extant

adjective

ex·​tant ˈek-stənt How to pronounce extant (audio) ek-ˈstant How to pronounce extant (audio)
ˈek-ˌstant
1
a
: currently or actually existing
the most charming writer extantG. W. Johnson
b
: still existing : not destroyed or lost
extant manuscripts
2
archaic : standing out or above

Examples of extant in a Sentence

There is, he reports, no extant copy of the Super Bowl I television broadcast; nobody bothered to keep the tapes. Joe Queenan, New York Times Book Review, 1 Feb. 2009
First produced in the spring of 472 BC, Persians is noteworthy in the corpus of the thirty-two extant Greek tragedies in that it is the only classical Greek drama that dramatizes an actual historical event. Daniel Mendelsohn, New York Review, 21 Sept. 2006
[George] Lucas' brain teemed with plots and characters, exotic creatures, worlds to be spun out of the words and sketches in his notebooks. Also, by numbering the extant episodes IV, V and VI, he was implicitly promising a prequel trilogy … Richard Corliss, Time, 9 May 2005
There are few extant records from that period. one of the oldest buildings still extant
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In short, Stifel’s optimism about Tesla’s ability to capitalize on a friendlier regulatory environment in its self-driving and other artificial intelligence applications far outweighs its tepid feelings toward Tesla’s extant EV business. Derek Saul, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024 Bilateral symmetry is the predominant trait of Earth's extant species, which provides a timeline of evolution from more than half a billion years ago to the present day. New Atlas, 14 Oct. 2024 While this titan clocks in as the second-longest extant whale on the planet, the longest of them all—the blue whale—can also be spotted by extraordinarily lucky voyagers. Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024 Despite the app not extant for accessibility’s sake, McCarthy emphasized accessibility does matter to them. Steven Aquino, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for extant 

Word History

Etymology

Latin exstant-, exstans, present participle of exstare to stand out, be in existence, from ex- + stare to stand — more at stand

First Known Use

1545, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of extant was in 1545

Dictionary Entries Near extant

Cite this Entry

“Extant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extant. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

extant

adjective
: existing at the present time : not destroyed or lost

More from Merriam-Webster on extant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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