extinct
adj.-
1 species/groups (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediate Sciencedescribing a type of animal or plant that has no living members left.
having no living representatives; used of a species, family, or other larger group of organisms.
ExampleThe dodo is a famous example of a bird that became extinct because of hunting.
ExampleBiologists estimate that thousands of undocumented species become extinct every decade due to rapid habitat loss in tropical rainforests.
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2 volcanoes (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediate Sciencedescribing a volcano that is no longer active and is not expected to erupt again.
no longer active or erupting; specifically used of volcanoes that have not erupted in recorded history and are unlikely to do so again.
ExampleThe hikers climbed to the top of the extinct volcano to see the lake inside.
ExampleUnlike dormant peaks which may eventually wake, an extinct volcano shows no seismic activity and its magma supply has been cut off for millennia.
- active
- erupting
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3 laws/customs (adj.) C1 Advanced Formal Lawno longer in use or no longer existing, like an old law or a way of life.
no longer in existence, operation, or use; applied to titles, legal rights, or cultural practices.
ExampleThe lawyer explained that the old property right was now extinct.
ExampleThe peerage became extinct upon the death of the tenth duke, as he left no male heirs to inherit the title.
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4 fire/light (adj.) C2 Proficiency Archaic Literaryno longer burning or shining.
extinguished or quenched; no longer alight.
ExampleThe fire was now extinct, leaving only cold grey ashes in the hearth.
ExampleHe stared into the extinct embers of the campfire, feeling a loneliness as deep as the surrounding woods.
- extinguished
- quenched
- out
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.
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).
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).