Dictionary

extinction en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/

Etymology

From late Middle English, borrowed from Latin extinctio (“extinction, annihilation”), from extinguere, past participle extinctus (“to extinguish”); see extinguish.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The action of making or becoming extinct; annihilation.
   • Phoenix and Lubbock are both caught in severe drought, and it is going to get much worse. We may see many such [dust] storms in the decades ahead, along with species extinctions, radical disturbance of ecosystems, and intensified social conflict over land and water. Welcome to the Anthropocene, the epoch when humans have become a major geological and climatic force. 2012 January 14, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2012, page 70:
   • Thirteen long centuries have elapsed since the extinction of the last Zoroastrian Empire[…] 1922, Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 41:
   • Their lives were short; all were condemned by the early 1930s, presumably because, like most classes of G.S.W.R. engines, their small numbers invited extinction under any comprehensive programme of standardisation. 1951 November, David R. Webb, “The Drummond 4-4-0 Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 773:
   • Dr. Manuel: You're wasting your time. The age of humanity is over. Our extinction is inevitable. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:
   • The extinction of a species once so numerous seemed incredible. 1955, A. W. Schorger, The Passenger Pigeon: Its Natural History and Extinction, →ISBN, page vii:
   • In Perthshire, the Aberdeenshire catchments of Deeside and Donside, in Moray and Nairnshire to the north-east, the populations are in low single figures, putting them on the brink of local extinction. 2023 June 17, Severin Carrell, “Dancing Capercaillie bird makes a tentative comeback in Scotland”, in The Guardian:
   • On the East and West Coast Main Lines in the 1950s/60s, for example, we saw the extinction of intermediate stations in order to create the same sort of accelerations that IRP is now promising. Back then, the priority was faster main line services, with wayside/intermediate stations paying the ultimate price. 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
2. (countable, uncountable) The absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation emitted by astronomical objects by intervening dust and gas before it reaches the observer.
3. (countable, uncountable) The inability to perceive multiple stimuli simultaneously.
4. (countable, uncountable) The fading of a conditioned response over time if it is not reinforced.

Forms

Deriveds

extinction memory (Compound words and expressions) · nonextinction · age of extinction (Compound words and expressions) · pseudoextinction · mass extinction (Compound words and expressions) · de-extinction · extinctionism · Permian-Triassic extinction (Compound words and expressions) · partial discharge extinction voltage (Compound words and expressions) · language extinction (Compound words and expressions) · Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event · interstellar extinction (Compound words and expressions) · semiextinction · extinctionist · extinction burst (Compound words and expressions) · extinction event → Triassic-Jurassic extinction event (Compound words and expressions) · coextinction · K-T extinction event (Compound words and expressions) · extinction level event (Compound words and expressions) · hemiextinction

Relateds

extinct · extinguish

Translations (58)

bg потушаване (the action of making or becoming extinct) · id kepunahan (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ga díothú (the action of making or becoming extinct) · la exstinctiō (the action of making or becoming extinct) · sh izumiranje (the action of making or becoming extinct) · lv izmiršana (the action of making or becoming extinct) · nn utrydding (the action of making or becoming extinct) · pl wygaszenie (the action of making or becoming extinct) · cs vyhynutí (the action of making or becoming extinct) · de Aussterben (the action of making or becoming extinct) · es extinción (the action of making or becoming extinct) · tl paglipol (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ca extinció (the action of making or becoming extinct) · cmn 滅絕 /灭绝 (the action of making or becoming extinct) · hu kipusztulás (the action of making or becoming extinct) · uk вимира́ння (the action of making or becoming extinct) · fi sukupuutto (the action of making or becoming extinct) · hu kihalás (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ka მოსპობა (the action of making or becoming extinct) · tl lipol (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ka ამოწყდომა (the action of making or becoming extinct) · nn utdøying (the action of making or becoming extinct) · tl pagkalipol (the action of making or becoming extinct) · da udslettelse (the action of making or becoming extinct) · th การสูญพันธุ์ (the action of making or becoming extinct) · he הכחדה (the action of making or becoming extinct) · kk қырылу (the action of making or becoming extinct) · da tilintetgørelse (the action of making or becoming extinct) · yo àkúrun (the action of making or becoming extinct) · sv utrotning (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ka ამოხოცვა (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ja 絶滅 (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ka გადაშენება (the action of making or becoming extinct) · bg загасване (the action of making or becoming extinct) · kk жойылу (the action of making or becoming extinct) · is útdauði (the action of making or becoming extinct) · mi meto (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ru вымира́ние (the action of making or becoming extinct) · pl wymieranie (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ms kepupusan (the action of making or becoming extinct) · pt extinção (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ka ამოწყვეტა (the action of making or becoming extinct) · cs vymření (the action of making or becoming extinct) · gl extinción (the action of making or becoming extinct) · nl uitsterven (the action of making or becoming extinct) · pl wymarcie (the action of making or becoming extinct) · cs zánik (the action of making or becoming extinct) · la extinctiō (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ast estinción (the action of making or becoming extinct) · be выміра́нне (the action of making or becoming extinct) · pl wytępienie (the action of making or becoming extinct) · fr extinction (the action of making or becoming extinct) · hi विलुप्त (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ko 멸종 (the action of making or becoming extinct) · da uddøen (the action of making or becoming extinct) · mk помор (the action of making or becoming extinct) · eo formorto (the action of making or becoming extinct) · ar اِنْقِرَاض (the action of making or becoming extinct)