[In senses 1–3 ad. L. extract-um, neut. pa. pple. of extrahĕre to EXTRACT. In sense 5 repr. L. extracta, fem. pa. pple., used subst. in Eng. Law (= AF. estrete: see ESTREAT). In sense 6 perh. formed in Eng. on EXTRACT v.; cf. however OF. estraite in same sense.]
I. † 1. gen. Something drawn or taken out of a thing; also fig. the ‘pith’ of a matter. Obs.
1570. Levins, Manip., 6/20. An Extracte, extractum.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. lvi. (1611), 307. The words of Adam … Flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bones, a true nature extract out of mine owne bodie.
1605. Camden, Rem., 140. heading (Allusions), I will now present vnto you a few extracts out of names.
1651. N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., II. xiii. 116. The extract of all is, that he [Duke of Hertford] was chosen by the People and Parliament then sitting.
2. ‘The substance extracted; the chief parts drawn from anything’ (J.); in mod. use ‘a pharmaceutical term applied to the tough or viscid matter obtained by treating any substance with solvents and then evaporating the solvent’ (Watts). Also loosely used for any preparation containing the active principle of a substance in a concentrated form.
1590. Marlowe, 2nd Pt. Tamburl., IV. ii. An ointment … Distilled from the … simplest extracts of all minerals.
1605. Timme, Quersit., III. Aa 3 b. One scruple of the extract of Betonie.
1656. H. More, Enthus. Tri., 9. This intoxicating Potion is made of the extract of certain hearbs.
1712. trans. Pomet’s Hist. Drugs, I. 28. Schroder makes an Extract of it with … Water.
1811. A. T. Thomson, Lond. Disp. (1818), 617. In preparing all kinds of extracts, evaporate the fluid as quickly as possible.
1875. H. C. Wood, Therap. (1879), 18. Fluid extracts are very concentrated fluid preparations.
1884. Syd. Soc. Lex., Extract of beef.
Mod. Advt., With Malt or Meat Extract an Ideal Diet for Infants.
fig. 1645. Quarles, Sol. Recant., vii. 34. Wisdom’s th’ extract of knowledge.
1677. Gilpin, Dæmonol. (1867), 12. Not only is he [Satan] wicked, but the spirit and extract of wickedness.
1817. Jas. Mill, Brit. India, II. IV. ix. 299. A large mass of Englishmen consider English law as the pure extract of reason, adapted to the exigencies of human nature itself.
1847. L. Hunt, Men, Women, & B., II. iii. 45. A specimen of the volatile extract of Steele.
† b. = EXTRACTIVE B sb. 2. Obs.
1807. T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 354. Besides tannin, extract must be present in this precipitate.
1810. Henry, Elem. Chem. (1840), II. 188. Vegetable Extract or Extractive … is … of a brownish colour, and generally of a bitterish taste.
1813. Sir H. Davy, Agric. Chem., iii. (1814), 85. Extract or the extractive principle exists in almost all plants … it seems to be composed principally of hydrogene, oxygene, carbon and a little azote.
c. transf. (See quot.).
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 261/1. The latter [cotton in worn-out fabrics] is destroyed by a chemical process, leaving the wool intact, which is then called ‘extract.’
† 3. A summary; an outline. Obs. Cf. Fr. extrait, It. estratto.
1549. Chaloner, Erasmus on Folly, G iij b. Let us draw on the other side … the extract of a man of wisedome.
1605. Bacon, Adv. Learn., II. vi. § 1. Ff 2 b. They supposed the world to bee the Image of God, & Man to be an extract or compendious Image of the world. Ibid. (1625), Ess., Studies (Arb.), 11. Some Bookes … may be read by Deputy, and Extracts made of them by Others.
1656–81. Blount, Glossogr., Extract … a breviate or abridgement.
4. A passage copied out of a book, manuscript, etc.; an excerpt, quotation.
1666. Pepys, Diary, 31 July. [He] brought me up this extract out of the Flanders letters to day come.
1707. Floyer, Physic. Pulse-Watch, 337. To gratifie the Curiosity of Ingenious Inquirers, I made the following Extract.
1803. Med. Jrnl., X. 142. These extracts are long.
1872. Raymond, Statist. Mines & Mining, 192. These extracts … might be still further multiplied.
transf. 1828. Lytton, Pelham, I. xii. 77. There was, indeed, a motley congregation; country esquires; extracts from the Universities; half-pay officers; [etc.].
5. Law. † a. = ESTREAT sb. (obs.). b. Sc. Law (see quot. 1861).
a. 1670. Blount, Law Dict., Extracts. See Estreats.
b. 1606. Act of Council, in Sc. Acts 23 Jas. VI., c. 19. Common and ordinarie Extracts, for every sheet extracted, xiii. sh. iiii. d.
1861. W. Bell, Dict. Law Scot., 374/1. Extract. The term extract, in the law of Scotland, signifies either the proper written evidence, or warrant on which diligence or execution on a judicial decree may issue; or it signifies a copy, authenticated by the proper officer, of a deed, writing, or other entry, the principal of which, either is in a public record, or a transcript of which, taken from the principal, has been preserved in a public record.
1868. Act 31–2 Vict., c. 100 § 68. If no Appeal shall have been taken, the Clerk of the Court may give out the Extract.
† II. 6. = EXTRACTION 5. Obs. Cf. OF. extraite.
1630. B. Jonson, New Inn, I. v. She shews her extract, and I honour her for it.
1691. Wood, Ath. Oxon., II. 722. He was a Scot born, or at least of Scotch extract.
a. 1734. North, Exam., I. iii. (1740), 223. Every Soul, who gets to be rich, immediately enquires into his Extract.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 344, note. The first child of European extract, born in New England.
