[ex.tent] n [ME, fr. AF & MF; AF extente land valuation, fr. MF, area, surveying of land, fr. extendre, estendre to extend] (14c) 1 archaic: valuation (as of land) in Great Britain esp. for taxation
2. a: seizure (as of land) in execution of a writ of extent in Great Britain: the condition of being so seized b: a writ giving to a creditor temporary possession of his debtor's property 3 a: the range over which something extends: scope "the ~ of her jurisdiction" b: the point, degree, or limit to which something extends "using talents to the greatest ~" c: the amount of space or surface that something occupies or the distance over which it extends: magnitude "the ~ of the forest"