extant

[ek-stuhnt, ik-stant]

adjective

1. in existence; still existing; not destroyed or lost.

   There are only three extant copies of the document.

2. Archaic.,  standing out; protruding.

extant

/ ɛkˈstænt, ˈɛkstənt /

adjective

1. still in existence; surviving

2. archaic,  standing out; protruding

Usage

Extant is sometimes wrongly used simply to say that something exists, without any connotation of survival: plutonium is perhaps the deadliest element in existence (not the deadliest element extant )

Other Word Forms

• nonextant adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of extant¹

1535–45; < Latin ex ( s ) tant- (stem of ex ( s ) tāns ) standing out, present participle of exstāre, equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + stāre to stand

Word History and Origins

Origin of extant¹

C16: from Latin exstāns standing out, from exstāre, from stāre to stand

Example Sentences

According to the Department of Business and Trade, 161 of the extant licences relate to military products.

From BBC

"So I placed the nematodes in the established collective group genus Vetus, which was established in 1935 for fossil nematodes that could not be placed in any known extant family."

From Science Daily

You could see details in saddles and costumes, and the building were still extant.

From Salon

"They are the first artefacts collected by the British from any part of Australia, that remain extant and documented," he said.

From BBC

Depicting extremes of human emotion, the oldest extant Western plays invited the citizens of ancient Greece to confront vital issues of contemporary justice.

From New York Times

Related Words

• surviving www.thesaurus.com