extinction

[ik-stingk-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of extinguishing.

2. the fact or condition of being extinguished or extinct.

3. suppression; abolition; annihilation.

   the extinction of an army.

4. Biology.,  the act or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out.

   the extinction of a species.

5. Psychology.,  the reduction or loss of a conditioned response as a result of the absence or withdrawal of reinforcement.

6. Astronomy.,  the diminution in the intensity of starlight caused by absorption as it passes through the earth's atmosphere or through interstellar dust.

7. Crystallography, Optics.,  the darkness that results from rotation of a thin section to an angle extinction angle at which plane-polarized light is absorbed by the polarizer.

extinction

/ ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən /

noun

1. the act of making extinct or the state of being extinct

2. the act of extinguishing or the state of being extinguished

3. complete destruction; annihilation

4. physics reduction of the intensity of radiation as a result of absorption or scattering by matter

5. astronomy the dimming of light from a celestial body as it passes through an absorbing or scattering medium, such as the earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust

6. psychol a process in which the frequency or intensity of a learned response is decreased as a result of reinforcement being withdrawn Compare habituation

extinction

1. The fact of being extinct or the process of becoming extinct.

2. See more at background extinction mass extinction

3. A progressive decrease in the strength of a conditioned response, often resulting in its elimination, because of withdrawal of a specific stimulus.

extinction

1. The disappearance of a species from the Earth.

The fossil record tells us that 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived are now extinct.

Other Word Forms

• nonextinction noun
• preextinction noun
• self-extinction noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of extinction¹

1375–1425; late Middle English extinccio ( u ) n < Latin ex ( s ) tinctiōn- (stem of ex ( s ) tinctiō ). See extinct, -ion

Example Sentences

The Dutch government says more than half of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of extinction, as the population of bees declines around the world.

Read more on BBC

Having nearly depleted their island’s resources, and lacking a large enough canoe to leave, they face eventual extinction.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

A government report last year estimated that more than 75% of native reptile, bird, bat and freshwater fish species groups are threatened with extinction, or are at risk.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

However, evaporation and poor seawater circulation increased salinity, causing the extinction of marine life between 15 and 6 million years ago.

Read more on Science Daily

Threatening Hamas with extinction if they refused to engage with his plan was the easy part.

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Related Words

• annihilation 
• destruction 
• elimination 
• obsolescence