extant
/ˈɛk.stənt/adjective
extant is spelled E-X-T-A-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, extant means “Still in existence; not having disappeared” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in extant?
| Letters | 6: E-X-T-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,906th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is extant?
Extant appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce extant?
- US /ˈɛk.stənt/
- US /ɛkˈstænt/
- UK /ɛkˈstænt/
Extant has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-extant.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does extant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Still in existence; not having disappeared.
extant manuscripts of the Old Testament
- 2
Still alive; not extinct.
birds are the only extant dinosaurs
- 3
obsoleteStanding out, or above the rest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate extant?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of extant: ext..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Extant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | existant |
| German | existent, bestehend, vorhanden , überlebend, lebend, verbleibend |
| Portuguese | existente, remanescente, vivente , extante |
| Spanish | existente, extante , actual |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does extant come from?
First attested in 1545, from Latin extantem, extāns, present participle of extō (“to stand out, exist, be extant”), from ex- (“out”) + stō (“stand”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).