extinct
[ ik-stingkt ]
/ ɪkˈstɪŋkt /
adjective
no longer in existence; that has ended or died out: an extinct species of fish.
no longer in use; obsolete: an extinct custom.
extinguished; quenched; not burning.
having ceased eruption; no longer active: an extinct volcano.
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What Is Lost When A Language Goes Extinct?Are some languages able to express certain ideas better than others? Are there concepts that exist in particular languages and nowhere else? As more and more languages become extinct, linguists are realizing that they contain a type of knowledge beyond simply a different set of words and grammar. In the next fifty years, linguists believe that 3,500 languages will go extinct. As globalization has linked markets and communities, …
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Origin of extinct
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin ex(s)tinctus put out, quenched, past participle of ex(s)tinguere to extinguish
SYNONYMS FOR extinct
Related formsnon·ex·tinct, adjectiveun·ex·tinct, adjective
Synonym study
1. See dead.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for extinct
British Dictionary definitions for extinct
extinct
/ (ɪkˈstɪŋkt) /
adjective
(of an animal or plant species) having no living representative; having died out
quenched or extinguished
(of a volcano) no longer liable to erupt; inactive
void or obsoletean extinct political office
Word Origin for extinct
C15: from Latin exstinctus quenched, from exstinguere to extinguish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for extinct
extinct
early 15c., from Latin extinctus/exstinctus, past participle of extinguere/exstinguere (see extinguish). Originally of fires; the sense of the condition of "dying out" of a family or a hereditary title, 1580s; of species by 1768. Cf. extinction.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Science definitions for extinct
extinct
[ ĭk-stĭngkt′ ]
Having no living members. Species become extinct for many reasons, including climate change, disease, destruction of habitat, local or worldwide natural disasters, and development into new species (speciation). The great majority of species that have ever lived-probably more than 99 percent-are now extinct.
No longer active or burning, as an extinct volcano.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.