extinct

Definition

Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining; extinguished, quenched.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• "Edward’s cigarillo was extinct by the time he had finished talking."
• "Ah pleaſant proof! / That piety has ſtill in human hearts / Some place, a ſpark or tvvo not yet extinct."
• "Most of the lamps were extinct, but they glittered golden in the morning light, and in some few a pale white flame yet struggled with day."

Related Words