excerpt
UK[ˈeksɜːpt]US[ˈeksɜːrpt]
n
A short piece taken from a book, piece of music, etc.
v
To take a short piece from a book, piece of music, etc.
Morpheme Breakdown
ex
cerpt
ex
out
cerpt
plucked, chosen
Etymology
The word "excerpt" originates from the Latin verb excerpere, meaning "to pick out, to select," which is itself a compound of ex- ("out") and carpere ("to pluck, gather"). This literal sense of plucking or selecting choice pieces from a larger body of text or material evolved directly into the modern meaning. The past participle form excerptus gave rise to the English noun and verb, preserving the core concept of extracting a representative or significant fragment from a whole work.
Analysis
Structure: ex (out) + cerpt (plucked, chosen)
- ex: A Latin prefix meaning "out of, from."
- cerpt: From the Latin root cerpt-, the past participle stem of carpere, meaning "to pluck, to select."
Examples
The article began with an excerpt from the president's speech.
She excerpted several key paragraphs for her research paper.
Listen to this musical excerpt and identify the composer.