extinct
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extinct¹
- /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/ US, UK
- /ɪkˈstɪŋt/ US, UK
- /ɛk-/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɪŋkt
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English extinct (“eliminated, eradicated, extinguished”), from Latin extīnctus, exstīnctus (“extinguished, quenched; destroyed, killed; made extinct”), the perfect passive participles of extinguō, exstinguō (“to extinguish, put out, quench; (figurative) to abolish; to destroy, kill”), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + stinguō (“to extinguish, put out, quench”) (from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push”)). The Middle English word displaced Middle English aqueint, aquenched (“extinct; extinguished”). Doublet of extinguish.
adjective
- Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining; extinguished, quenched. Edward’s cigarillo was extinct by the time he had finished talking.
- Of feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.: put out, as if like a fire; quenched, suppressed. My breath is corrupt, my dayes are extinct, the graues are ready for me.
-
Of customs, ideas, laws and legal rights, offices, organizations, languages, etc.: no longer existing or in use; defunct, discontinued, obsolete; specifically, of a title of nobility: no longer having any person qualified to hold it.
Luckily, such ideas about race are extinct in current sociological theory.
Similar: anachronistic, antediluvial, antediluvian, antiquated, antique, prehistoric, archaic, backward, backwards, behind the times, cobwebbed, cobwebby · Opposite: inextinct, unextinct, abuzz, active, agile, airy, alive, animate, animated, brisk, busy, busy as a bee
-
Of an animal or plant species or group of species, a group of people, a family, etc., having no living members, representatives, or descendants.
Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.
Similar: absent, beingless, extinct, inessential, inexistent, nonexistent, null, zilch · Opposite: extant, inextinct, living, nonextinct, unextinct, essential, existent, existing
-
Of a geological feature: no longer active; specifically, of a volcano: no longer erupting.
Most of the volcanos on this island are now extinct.
Similar: asleep, at rest, blessed, cadaverous, clay-cold, deceased, breathless, resting, cold, decomposed, defunct, departed · Opposite: active, dormant, nonextinct, unextinct
- Of a radioisotope: no longer occurring primordially due to having decayed away completely, because it has a relatively short half-life.
- Of a person: dead; also, permanently separated from others. [H]e may at lybertie / Paſſe ſaue without hys ieopardy / Tyll that he be from vs extyncte / And clerely out of helles precincte
extinct²
- /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/ US, UK
- /ɪkˈstɪŋt/ US, UK
- /ɛk-/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɪŋkt
Where it comes from
From Middle English extincten (“to extinguish or put out (a fire, light, etc.); to destroy, kill; (figurative) to suppress (an uprising); (law) to quash or stop (legal proceedings); to cancel (a privilege, title, etc.); (medicine) to eliminate or reduce (inflammation, an ulcer, etc.)”), from extinct (adjective) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).
verb extincts · extincting · extincted · extinct
- To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench. […] Eugenia […] was put in the hot baths, which were extincted, and ſhe preſerued: […] At laſt the ſtorie ſaith, ſhée was with the ſword beheaded.
- To kill (someone).
- To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy. Graunt that al ſinne & vice here maie bee ſo extinct: that thei neuer haue power to raigne in they ſeruaũtes. Amẽ.
-
To cause (an animal or plant species) to die out completely or become extinct (adjective etymology 1 sense 2.3).
Paleontologists determine which animal species were extincted, and geomorphologists can find cycles of soil erosion. […] The first settlers were living along the coast of this very large island off Africa [Madagascar], but in about seven hundred years they had spread across the entire island and in
Opposite: de-extinct
- To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench. It is more hard, loue to our ſelues to extinkt, / Then hate to other, to plucke from tharts preſinkt, / Thus, of iuſtice no let ledeth intrupcion, / Like this loue (name ſelfe loue) growne of corrupcion.
- To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a license, etc.). So if I have a rent charge, and grant it upon condition; now, though the condition be broken, the grantee's estate is not defeated till I have made my claim: but if after any such grant my father purchase the land, and it descend to me; now, if the condition be broken, the rent ceaseth without claim
extinct³
- /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/ US, UK
- /ɪkˈstɪŋt/ US, UK
- /ɛk-/ US, UK
Rhymes with -ɪŋkt
Where it comes from
Either:
* from Latin extīnctus, exstīnctus, a noun use of the perfect passive participle of extinguō, exstinguō (see etymology 1); or
* from the verb (see etymology 2).
noun
-
Synonym of extinction (“the action of becoming or making extinct; annihilation”).
[W]ho is he […] as vvould not euen in the glas of Lucreſias perſeuerãce (euẽ to the vttermoſt extinct of life) ſe the vvõder of bevvty, matched vvith the indiuiduat adiũt vnſoyled conſtancy.
Similar: extinction
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: extinguished, dead, out, inactive, nonextant, quenched, extirpated, defunct, dark, eradicated, deceased, extinguish, extinguishment, disappear, disappearing, disappeared
Translations
Every language
adj of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining — see also extinguished, quenched
| Español | extinto |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 멸종된 myeoljongdoen |
| 日本語 | 消えた kieta |
| Português | apagado, extinguido |
| Français | éteint |
| Deutsch | erloschen |
| Русский | поту́хший potúxšij, уга́сший ugásšij |
| עברית | כבוי kavuy |
adj of customs, offices, etc.: no longer existing or in use; of a title of nobility: no longer having any person qualified to hold it — see also defunct, discontinu
| 日本語 | 廃れた sutareta |
|---|---|
| Português | obsoleto, ultrapassado |
| Русский | устаре́вший ustarévšij |
adj of an animal or plant species, a class of people, a family, etc.: having died out completely; no longer in existence
| Español | extinto |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 멸종된 myeoljongdoen, 멸종한 myeoljonghan |
| 日本語 | 死に絶えた shunitaeta, 絶滅した zetsumetsu shita |
| हिन्दी | विलुप्त vilupt |
| Português | extinto |
| Français | éteint, disparu |
| Deutsch | ausgestorben |
| Русский | вы́мерший výmeršij |
| العربية | مُنْقَرِض munqariḍ |
| עברית | נכחד nikḥád |
adj of a geological feature: no longer active; of a volcano: no longer erupting
| Español | extinto |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 死んだ shinda |
| Português | extinto |
| Deutsch | erloschen |
| Русский | поту́хший potúxšij |
| עברית | כבוי kavuy |
verb to cause (an animal or plant species) to die out completely or become extinct
| 中文 | 絕種 /绝种 juézhǒng, 滅種 /灭种 mièzhǒng, 灭绝 mièjué |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | auslöschen |
Talk about this word "extinct." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/extinct. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. extinct. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/extinct "extinct." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/extinct.Cite this
@misc{extinct_2026,
title = {extinct},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/extinct},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
