extant

E1X8T1A1N1T1
US/ˈɛk.stənt/US/ɛkˈstænt/

adjective

Still in existence; not having disappeared.

“birds are the only extant dinosaurs”

Less commonScrabble 13

Meanings

adjectiveextant (not comparable)
  1. not comparableStill in existence; not having disappeared.

    extant manuscripts of the Old Testament

    5 more examples

    During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant[…]

    1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

    This English Nation, will it get to know the meaning of its strange new Today? Is there sense enough extant, discoverable anywhere or anyhow, in our united twenty-seven million heads to discern the same; valour enough in our twenty-seven million hearts to dare and do the bidding thereof?

    1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter II, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book I (Proem)

    There are many narrow-gauge systems still extant.

    1948 May and June, J. Macartney Robbins, “A Railway Tour of Ireland”, in Railway Magazine, page 150

    Demetreius of Phalerum, a peripatetic philosopher of the fourth century B.C., wrote an amatory treatise entitled Eroticus - no longer, however, extant.

    1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 75

    Some have argued that no one moment and/or process of textual formation should be presumed for any of these texts, and that they were constantly in a state of becoming, but the extant evidence does not support such a position.

    2020, Chaim Milikowsky, “7.6 Philological practices: Hebrew”, in Philipp Roelli, editor, Handbook of Stemmatology: History, Methodology, Digital Approaches, De Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 494

    Synonyms: existent, existing, essential, existent, existing · Antonyms: inextant

  2. not comparableStill alive; not extinct.

    birds are the only extant dinosaurs

    1 more example

    I reckon that this one Duke of Weimar did more for the Culture of his Nation than all the English Dukes and Duces now extant, or that were extant since Henry the Eighth gave them the Church Lands to eat, have done for theirs![…]

    1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, chapter VI, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book IV (Horoscope)

    Synonyms: alive and kicking, living, vital, above ground, alive, alive and kicking, alive and well, animate · Antonyms: extinct

  3. not comparableobsoleteStanding out, or above the rest.
    1 more example

    [W]hereas in ſmall fragments or plates, the Ice, though it ſink not to the bottom of the water, will oftentimes ſink so low in it, as ſcarce to leave any part evidently extant above the ſurface of the water, in vaſt quantities of Ice, that extancy is ſometimes ſo conſpicuous, that Navigators in their Voyages to Iſland, Greenland, and other frozen Regions, complain of meeting with lumps, or rather floating rocks of Ice, as high as their main Maſts.

    1663, Robert Boyle, “Title IX. Experiments in Consort, Touching the Bubbles from which the Levity of Ice is Supposed to Proceed.”, in New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold, or, An Experimental History of Cold, Begun. […], London: […] Richard Davis, […], published 1683, →OCLC, paragraph 1, page 95

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveStill in existence; not having disappeared.

Opposite

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivestill in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinextantem
  2. Englishextant

First attested in 1545, from Latin extantem, extāns, present participle of extō (“to stand out, exist, be extant”), from ex- (“out”) + stō (“stand”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic موجود
  • موجودstill in existence
Bulgarian съществуващ, наличен
  • съществуващ (săštestvuvašt)still in existence
  • наличен (naličen)still in existence
Catalan existent, existent
  • existentstill in existence
  • existentstill alive; not extinct
  • actualstill alive; not extinct
  • viustill alive; not extinct
Chinese Mandarin 現存 /现存, 現存的 /现存的
  • 現存 /现存 (xiàncún)still in existence
  • 現存的 /现存的still in existence
  • 现存 (Xiàncún)still alive; not extinct
Czech dochovalý, dochovaný
  • dochovalýstill in existence
  • dochovanýstill in existence
  • existujícístill in existence
  • žijícístill alive; not extinct
Danish nulevende
  • nulevendestill in existence
Dutch existent
  • existentstill in existence
Esperanto dauxra (gxis nuntempe), daŭras ĝis nuntage
  • dauxra (gxis nuntempe)still in existence
  • daŭras ĝis nuntagestill in existence
  • nemalaperistill in existence
Estonian ekisteeriv
  • ekisteerivstill in existence
Finnish olemassa oleva, elävä
  • olemassa olevastill in existence
  • elävästill alive; not extinct
French existant
  • existantstill in existence
German existent, bestehend
  • existentstill in existence
  • bestehendstill in existence
  • vorhandenstill in existence
  • überlebendstill alive; not extinct
  • lebendstill alive; not extinct
  • verbleibendstill alive; not extinct
  • rezentstill alive; not extinct
Greek υπάρχων, σωζόμενος
  • υπάρχων (ypárchon)still in existence
  • σωζόμενος (sozómenos)still in existence
  • αρτίγονος (artígonos)still in existence
Hindi मौजुद
  • मौजुद (maujud)still in existence
Hungarian létező, fennálló
  • létezőstill in existence
  • fennállóstill in existence
  • meglévőstill in existence
  • létezőstill alive; not extinct
Italian esistente
  • esistentestill in existence
Japanese 現存する, 既存の
  • 現存する (genzon suru)still in existence
  • 既存の (kizon no)still in existence
  • 現存する (genzon suru)still alive; not extinct
Malay ekstan, masih wujud
  • ekstanstill in existence
  • masih wujudstill in existence
  • masih hidupstill alive; not extinct
Norwegian Bokmål nålevende, gjenstående
  • nålevendestill in existence
  • gjenståendestill in existence
  • gjenlevendestill alive; not extinct
  • gjenværendestill alive; not extinct
Polish istniejący, trwający
  • istniejącystill in existence
  • trwającystill in existence
  • zachowanystill in existence
  • istniejącystill alive; not extinct
Portuguese existente, remanescente
  • existentestill in existence
  • remanescentestill in existence
  • viventestill in existence
  • extantestill alive; not extinct
  • viventestill alive; not extinct
Romanian existent
  • existentstill in existence
Russian сохрани́вшийся, существу́ющий
  • сохрани́вшийся (soxranívšijsja)still in existence
  • существу́ющий (suščestvújuščij)still in existence
  • вы́живший (výživšij)still alive; not extinct
  • сохрани́вшийся (soxranívšijsja)still alive; not extinct
Spanish existente, extante
  • existentestill in existence
  • extantestill in existence
  • existentestill alive; not extinct
  • actualstill alive; not extinct
Swedish existerande, kvarvarande
  • existerandestill in existence
  • kvarvarandestill in existence
  • nulevandestill in existence
  • bevaradstill in existence

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with extant

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

extant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extant

MLA

“extant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extant. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extant,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extant.

Source: extant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.