Extraite

Extraite is the feminine singular past participle of the French verb extraire. As an adjective, it designates something that has been extracted or drawn out from a larger whole. It agrees with the noun it modifies: une phrase extraite; la matière extraite; des phrases extraites; des matières extraites.

Origin and usage: Extraire comes from Latin extrahere. The past participle yields extrait in masculine form and extraite in feminine form; the plural forms are extraits (masc.) and extraites (fem.). The term is used in both attributive and predicative positions, and can appear in compound phrases such as section extraite or données extraites.

Usage examples: In literature, you may encounter une phrase extraite du roman, meaning a sentence taken from the work. In science and industry, one speaks of la matière extraite to denote material that has been removed from a source, or of les données extraites to refer to data obtained by extraction. In everyday French, extraite often describes something that has been isolated or removed from a larger context, for example a fraction extraite from an analysis or a section extraite from a document.

Distinctions: Extraite is not a standalone noun; it primarily functions as a participial adjective. The related noun for a product obtained by extraction is usually extrait, while extraction is the process itself. See also extraire, extrait, and extraction for related forms.

See also: extraire, extrait, extraction.