Word Confusion: Extant versus Extent

Posted September 13, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

You’d almost think that this word confusion extant vs extent was an archaic word “upgraded” to a more modern spelling.

Then you’d give up on this fantasy.

Extant is about something that has survived. That means the dodo is not extant, but manatees are still extant.

Extent is a space, degree, or range to which a thing spreads out. The extent of one’s land, the view from a cliff . . . or a writ of law to recover debts.

You may also want to explore “Extend versus Extent“.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Extant	Extent
The Jew’s House, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, by Spencer Means is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. — One of the oldest extant town houses in England.	Extent of Fluoridated Water in the World by User:Eubulides is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective	Noun Plural: extents
[Especially of a document] Still in existence Surviving Not destroyed or lost [Archaic] Standing out Protruding	The space, degree, or range to which a thing spreads out Length, area, volume, or scope Something spread out, as a space A particular length, area, or volume Something having been added to [U.S. law] A writ, or a levy, by which a debtor’s lands are valued and transferred to the creditor, absolutely or for a term of years [English law] A.k.a., writ of extent A writ to recover debts of a record due to the crown, under which land, property, etc., may be seized A seizure made under such a writ [Logic] Extension [Archaic] Assessment or valuation, as of land
Examples:
The original manuscript is no longer extant. There are only three extant copies of the document. There is only one extant copy of the book. The oldest extant copy is dated 1492. “There are treasures of carpentry still extant, that he made for them” (Yonge). The original Magna Carta is extant at Salisbury Cathedral.	He is agreeable to some extent. Not all landowners are aware of the extent of their own holdings. He is agreeable to some extent. It was a vast extent of concrete. With global warming, his lush estate became an extent of desert. The extent of the damage was horrendous. He marveled at the limitless extent of the skies. He will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. To the extent the terms of the Indenture and this Note are inconsistent, the terms of the Indenture shall govern.
Derivatives:
Adjective: nonextant	Noun: preextent
History of the Word:
Mid-16th century, in the sense able to be publicly seen or reached, is from the Latin exstant- meaning being visible or prominent, existing, from the verb exstare, from ex- (out) + stare (to stand).	Its first known use was 1250–1300. Middle English extente meaning assessment is from the Medieval Latin extenta, a noun use of the feminine of the Latin extentus, past participle of extendere meaning to extend.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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