What does extract mean?
Extract is one of English's quietly indispensable verbs, meaning to draw something out — whether that is a tooth from a jaw, oil from seeds, data from a database, or a confession from a reluctant witness. As a noun it has two main lives: a passage lifted from a longer work, often quoted for review or illustration, and a concentrated substance obtained through processing, most familiarly vanilla or almond extract in the kitchen. The word comes from the Latin extrahere, formed from ex- ('out') plus trahere ('to drag'), making it a sibling of words like subtract, retract, and even treaty. Its register is entirely neutral, spanning dentistry, chemistry, journalism, and computing with ease. Note the shift in stress between verb and noun: you exTRACT a tooth, but read from an EXtract. Few everyday words carry quite so much physical and figurative range in so few letters.
To remove or draw out something, especially with effort, force, or a deliberate process; also to obtain or derive information, data, or a substance from a source.
"Miners worked for decades to extract copper from the mountain's deep veins."
Stress falls on the second syllable when used as a verb: /ɪkˈstrækt/.
A passage selected from a book, film, or other work; or a concentrated preparation obtained by extracting a substance, such as vanilla extract.
"The newspaper published an extract from the politician's new autobiography."
Stress falls on the first syllable when used as a noun: /ˈekstrækt/. Plural: extracts.
Used for multiple passages quoted from works or for multiple extracted substances.
"The anthology gathers extracts from over a hundred poets."
Every word from 'extract' to 'subtraction' to 'treaty' traces back to one tiny Latin verb meaning 'to drag' — trahere.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of extract
Extract derives from the Latin verb extrahere, meaning 'to draw or pull out', composed of ex- ('out') and trahere ('to drag, pull'). The word entered English via Latin past-participle forms such as extractus, with the verb attested by the early 17th century and noun uses developing shortly after. It shares its root with a wide family including subtract, retract, protract, traction, and trait, all ultimately descended from the same Indo-European root behind 'drag' and 'trace'.
Related word forms
How extract is actually used
The verb is stressed on the second syllable (/ɪkˈstrækt/) while the noun is stressed on the first (/ˈekstrækt/), mirroring pairs like 'record' and 'present'. The word is neutral in register and appears equally in medical, technical, culinary, computing, and literary contexts. In computing, 'extract' is standard for unpacking archives or pulling values from datasets.
Easily confused with extract
An excerpt is specifically a short passage taken from a written work or speech, while extract is broader, covering removal of substances, teeth, data, or meaning, as well as such passages.