excerpted
UK[ˈeksɜːptɪd]US[ˈeksɜːrptɪd]
v
took out a short passage from a longer text, speech, or piece of music.
adj
(of text or music) having been taken out from a larger work.
Morpheme Breakdown
ex
cerpt
ed
ex
out
cerpt
to pick, to pluck
ed
verb/adjective suffix
Etymology
the word 'excerpted' originates from the latin verb excerpere, a compound of ex- ("out") and carpere ("to pluck, gather"). this literal sense of "plucking out" or "selecting out" was applied metaphorically to the act of choosing passages from texts. entering english in the 16th century via the latin past participle excerptus, the word retained its core meaning of extraction. the modern form 'excerpted' applies this logic of selective removal specifically to the domain of written and spoken language or musical composition, where pieces are figuratively "plucked" from their original context.
Analysis
Structure: ex (out) + cerpt (to pick, to pluck) + ed (verb/adjective suffix)
- ex: a latin prefix meaning "out, out of, from."
- cerpt: from the latin root cerpt-, the past participle stem of carpere, meaning "to pick, pluck, gather, select."
- ed: an english suffix used to form the past tense and past participle of regular verbs, and adjectives from verbs.
Examples
the critic excerpted several powerful lines from the poet's latest collection.
the excerpted chapter was published in a literary magazine to promote the novel.
for her presentation, she excerpted key data points from the lengthy research report.