Standard Lemma guide

extant

adj · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈɛk.stənt/
  • US: /ɛkˈstænt/
  • UK: /ɛkˈstænt/
  • UK: /ˈɛk.stənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ænt
  • rhymes with -ɛkstənt
  • CMU ARPABET: EH1 K S T AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Still in existence; not having disappeared.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • extant manuscripts of the Old Testament

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: existent, existing, essential, extant

Antonyms: inextant

2

adj

Meaning 2

Still alive; not extinct.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • birds are the only extant dinosaurs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alive and kicking, living, vital, above ground, alive, alive and well, animate, animated, extant, kicking, live, lively, livesome, quick, still with us, surviving, undeceased, vitalic

Antonyms: extinct

3

adj

Meaning 3

Standing out, or above the rest.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost- Edward Clodd

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • extant manuscripts
  • specimens of graphic art found among extant barbaric folk

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: extinct

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: موجود — still in existence
  • Bulgarian: съществуващ (sǎštestvuvašt) — still in existence
  • Bulgarian: наличен (naličen) — still in existence
  • Catalan: existent — still in existence
  • Chinese Mandarin: 現存 /现存 (xiàncún) — still in existence
  • Chinese Mandarin: 現存的 /现存的 — still in existence
  • Czech: dochovalý — still in existence
  • Czech: dochovaný — still in existence
  • Czech: existující — still in existence
  • Danish: nulevende — still in existence
  • Dutch: existent — still in existence
  • Esperanto: dauxra (gxis nuntempe) — still in existence
  • Esperanto: daŭras ĝis nuntage — still in existence
  • Esperanto: nemalaperi — still in existence
  • Estonian: ekisteeriv — still in existence
  • Finnish: olemassa oleva — still in existence
  • French: existant — still in existence
  • German: existent — still in existence
  • German: bestehend — still in existence
  • German: vorhanden — still in existence
  • Greek: υπάρχων (ypárchon) — still in existence
  • Greek: σωζόμενος (sozómenos) — still in existence
  • Greek: αρτίγονος (artígonos) — still in existence
  • Hindi: मौजुद (maujud) — still in existence
  • Hungarian: létező — still in existence
  • Hungarian: fennálló — still in existence
  • Hungarian: meglévő — still in existence
  • Italian: esistente — still in existence
  • Japanese: 現存する (genzon suru) — still in existence
  • Japanese: 既存の (kizon no) — still in existence
  • Malay: ekstan — still in existence
  • Malay: masih wujud — still in existence
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nålevende — still in existence
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gjenstående — still in existence
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nolevande — still in existence
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nålevande — still in existence
  • Polish: istniejący — still in existence
  • Polish: trwający — still in existence
  • Polish: zachowany — still in existence
  • Portuguese: existente — still in existence
  • Portuguese: remanescente — still in existence
  • Portuguese: vivente — still in existence
  • Romanian: existent — still in existence
  • Russian: сохрани́вшийся (soxranívšijsja) — still in existence
  • Russian: существу́ющий (suščestvújuščij) — still in existence
  • Serbo-Croatian: постојећи — still in existence
  • Serbo-Croatian: postojeći — still in existence
  • Spanish: existente — still in existence
  • Spanish: extante — still in existence
  • Swedish: existerande — still in existence
  • Swedish: kvarvarande — still in existence
  • Swedish: nulevande — still in existence
  • Swedish: bevarad — still in existence
  • Catalan: existent — still alive; not extinct
  • Catalan: actual — still alive; not extinct
  • Catalan: viu — still alive; not extinct
  • Chinese Mandarin: 现存 (Xiàncún) — still alive; not extinct
  • Czech: žijící — still alive; not extinct
  • Finnish: elävä — still alive; not extinct
  • German: überlebend — still alive; not extinct
  • German: lebend — still alive; not extinct
  • German: verbleibend — still alive; not extinct
  • Hungarian: létező — still alive; not extinct
  • Japanese: 現存する (genzon suru) — still alive; not extinct
  • Malay: masih hidup — still alive; not extinct
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gjenlevende — still alive; not extinct
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gjenværende — still alive; not extinct
  • Polish: istniejący — still alive; not extinct
  • Portuguese: extante — still alive; not extinct
  • Portuguese: vivente — still alive; not extinct
  • Russian: вы́живший (výživšij) — still alive; not extinct
  • Russian: сохрани́вшийся (soxranívšijsja) — still alive; not extinct
  • Spanish: existente — still alive; not extinct
  • Spanish: actual — still alive; not extinct
Real reading context

extant in complete knowledge articles