extinction
/ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.76 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation emitted by astronomical objects by intervening dust and gas before it reaches the observer.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Thirteen long centuries have elapsed since the extinction of the last Zoroastrian Empire[…]"
- "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."
- "The extinction of a species once so numerous seemed incredible."
- "Dr. Manuel: You're wasting your time. The age of humanity is over. Our extinction is inevitable."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
From late Middle English, borrowed from Latin extinctio (“extinction, annihilation”), from extinguere, past participle extinctus (“to extinguish”); see extinguish.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, extinctio
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
de-extinction
age of extinction
extinction burst
extinction event → Triassic-Jurassic extinction event
extinction level event
extinction memory
interstellar extinction