▪ I. † exˈcerpt, pple. Obs.
In 5 excerpte.
[ad. L. excerpt-us, pa. pple. of excerpĕre: see excerpt v.]
Excerpted, extracted, selected.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 7 Y..intende to compile a tretys of the state of the yle of Breteyne, excerpte of diuerse labores of auctores. |
▪ II. excerpt, n.
(ˈɛksəpt, ɛkˈsɜːpt)
Also 8 excerp, 7–8 L. pl. excerpta.
[ad. L. excerpt-um, neut. of pa. pple. of excerpĕre: see excerpt v.]
1. A passage taken out of a printed book or manuscript; an extract, quotation, selection.
| a 1638 Mede Par. 2 Pet. iii. App. Wks. III. 618 Some Excerpta out of the Fathers concerning the Renovation of the World. 1638 Rouse Heav. Univ. Advt. (1702) 3 Excerpts out of all the Greek and Latin Fathers. 1704 Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 150 An Epitome of the latter xx Books..is also Extant..And also noble Excerpta by one Theodosius. 1706 Sibbald Hist. Picts in Misc. Scot. I. 91 The excerpts of the old register of St. Andrew calleth him a bishop, and his companions Clerks. 1817 Southey Let. 17 Apr., Papers from the ‘Quarterly Review,’ together with certain excerpts from the ‘Register.’ 1876 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. 8 Mr. Conway read..an excerpt from one of Mazzini's Orations. 1882 J. T. Fowler Mem. Ripon I. i. (headline) Excerpts from Chronicles. |
2. An article from the ‘Transactions’ of a learned society or from a periodical, printed off separately for private circulation. Cf. off-print.
This sense has long been in use in the official correspondence of learned societies (Royal Society, Society of Antiquaries, etc.), but does not appear to be generally current.
| 1883 Proc. Royal Soc. 369 List Presents, [An author sends several works, of which the titles are quoted.] And fourteen other Excerpts. 1889 Ibid. 252 Excerpt. [Added in brackets to the title of a work presented.] |
3. In etymological sense: A thing picked out. rare.
| 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 15 The emperor had a large silver dish, the filling of which..occasioned wholesale slaughter; his excerpts being insignificant parts of various small and rare birds and fishes. |
▪ III. excerpt, v.
(ɛkˈsɜːpt)
[f. L. excerpt- ppl. stem of excerpĕre, f. ex- out + carpĕre to pluck.]
1. trans. To cull out (passages, phrases, etc.); to take out as an extract; to extract, quote. Also absol. to make extracts.
| c 1536 Wolsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 99 II. 21 A Copy of certain Articles and Clauses excerpted and taken out of the Popes Letters. 1615 Chapman Odyss. ii. 105 This close note I excerpted. a 1662 Heylin Laud ii. (1671) 301 He had excerpted and laid by many notes and precedents. 1851 Carlyle Sterling ii. iii. (1872) 113 An affectionate and eloquent notice of him; which..was excerpted into the newspapers also. 1865 ― Fredk. Gt. IX. xx. x. 193 The Book we excerpt from is Mémoires du Comte de Hordt. 1874 Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece ix. 281 Athenæus..excerpted largely in this direction. |
† 2. In etymological sense: To pluck out; to abstract, remove; also fig. Obs.
| 1538 Leland Itin. IV. 64 Thinges excerpted out of the East Glasse Window of our Lady Chappell. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 429 Which Musk being excerpted before it be ripe, smelleth strongly and unpleasantly. c 1612 Donne βιαθανατος (1644) 23 Every branch which is excerpted from other authors and engrafted here, is not, etc. |
¶ b. To take out, eliminate. rare.
| 1881 J. Payne Villon's Poems Introd. 22 If one should excerpt from their verse its accidental local colouring. |
Hence exˈcerpted ppl. a.
| 1818 G. S. Faber Horæ Mosaicæ II. 192 Excerpted particles of the pure and ethereal light. |
Add: 3. To publish or otherwise make available excerpts from (a book, esp. one recently or not yet published), in a newspaper or magazine; to publish as an excerpt.
| 1976 Economist 3 Apr. 16/1 Their newest book..(not out yet, but being excerpted and serialised all around). 1979 Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. i. 5/3 The book's opening section..was excerpted in New West magazine. 1988 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 22 Nov. 6/3 Lee Harvey Oswald may have intended to kill the then Governor of Texas John Connally and not President John F. Kennedy, says a book excerpted in Time magazine this week. |