extinction
English
Etymology
From French extinction, from Latin extinctio (“extinction, annihilation”), from extinguere, past participle extinctus (“to extinguish”); see extinguish.
Noun
Wikipedia extinction (plural extinctions)
- The action of making or becoming extinct; annihilation.
- 2012 January 1, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 70:
- 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.
- 2012 January 1, Donald Worster, “A Drier and Hotter Future”, American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 70:
- (astronomy) The absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation emitted by astronomical objects by intervening dust and gas before it reaches the observer.
Related terms
Translations
the action of making or becoming extinct
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References
- extinction in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- extinction in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911