- still in existence; surviving
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ex•tant /ˈɛkstənt, ɪkˈstænt/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- still existing: There are three extant copies of the document.
ex•tant
(ek′stənt, ik stant′),USA pronunciation adj.
- in existence;
still existing;
not destroyed or lost:There are only three extant copies of the document. - [Archaic.]standing out;
protruding.
- Latin ex(s)tant- (stem of ex(s)tāns) standing out, present participle of exstāre, equivalent. to ex- ex-1 + stāre to stand
- 1535–45
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
extant /ɛkˈstænt; ˈɛkstənt/ adj
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)
'extant' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
bony fish
- Diodorus Siculus
- existent
- Hesiod
- Homo sapiens
- living
- Menander
- Parmenides
- Plautus
- remains
- Western Wall
- arbitration
- cultural universal
- East Germanic
- incunabula
- Jívaro
- King Horn
- Mandaean
- Middle Comedy
- mysticete
- paestum
- present
- Satyricon
- Sumerian