extinguish

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin extinguo (“to put out (what is burning), quench, extinguish, deprive of life, destroy, abolish”), from ex (“out”) + stinguere (“to put out, quench, extinguish”). Doublet of extinct.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪkˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/
Audio (US): (file)

Verb

extinguish (third-person singular simple present extinguishes, present participle extinguishing, simple past and past participle extinguished)

(transitive)
1. To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench.
  Synonyms: douse, (obsolete) extinct
2. (figurative) To eclipse or obscure (someone or something).
  A beauty that extinguishes all others by comparison
  
  The rays of the sun were extinguished by the thunder clouds.
3. (figurative) To kill (someone).
  Synonym: (obsolete) extinct
4. (figurative) To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
  Synonyms: (obsolete) extinct; see also Thesaurus:destroy
  
  She extinguished all my hopes.
  
  They intended to extinguish the enemy by force of numbers
  1. (psychology) To bring about the extinction of (a conditioned reflex).
    Many patients can extinguish their phobias after a few months of treatment.
5. (figurative) To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench.
  Synonym: (obsolete) extinct
6. (figurative, chiefly law) To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.).
  Synonym: (obsolete) extinct
  - 1668 December 19, James Dalrymple, “Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 575:
    The Pupil after his Pupillarity, had granted a Diſcharge to one of the Co-tutors, which did extinguiſh the whole Debt of that Co-tutor, and conſequently of all the reſt, they being all correi debendi, lyable by one individual Obligation, which cannot be Diſcharged as to one, and ſtand as to all the reſt.
  - 2024 May 11, Barney Jopson, “Catalonia separatist deal tested at ballot box”, in FT Weekend, page 2:
    If the amnesty becomes law as expected this month or in June, it promises to extinguish the charges Puigdemont faces of disobedience and misuse of public funds.
(intransitive, reflexive) To die out.

Derived terms

self-extinguishing

Related terms

Translations

to stop (fire, etc.) from burning; to stop (light, etc.) from shining — see also put out,‎ quench

Arabic: أَطْفَأَ (ʔaṭfaʔa)
Egyptian Arabic: طفى (ṭafa)
Armenian: հանգցնել (hy) (hangcʻnel), մարել (hy) (marel)
Aromanian: astingu
Assamese: নুমুৱা (numua) (intransitive), নুমুউৱা (numuua) (transitive)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܟ̰ܡܸܥ (māčmiʿ)
Azerbaijani: söndürmək (az), keçirmək (az)
Basque: itzali
Bulgarian: гася (bg) (gasja), потушавам (bg) (potušavam)
Burmese: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: extingir (ca), apagar (ca)
Cherokee: ᎬᏜᏗᎭ (gvdladiha)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 熄滅／熄灭 (zh) (xīmiè), 撲滅／扑灭 (zh) (pūmiè)
Dalmatian: stotur
Danish: slukke (da)
Dutch: uitdoven (nl), doven (nl), blussen (nl)
Esperanto: estingi (eo)
Evenki: сими (simi)
Faroese: sløkkja
Finnish: sammuttaa (fi)
French: éteindre (fr)
Friulian: distudâ
Galician: apagar, matar (gl), atafegar
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: löschen (de)
Greek: σβήνω (el) (svíno)
Ancient: σβέννυμι (sbénnumi)
Hebrew: כיבה (kiba)
Hindi: बुझाना (hi) (bujhānā)
Hungarian: elolt (hu), elfojt (hu)
Icelandic: slökkva
Ingrian: sammuttaa
Irish: múch
Italian: estinguere (it)
Japanese: 消す (ja) (kesu); 鎮火する (chinka suru)
Khmer: ពន្លត់ (km) (pŭənlŭət)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کوژاندن (kujandin)
Latin: exstinguō
Lithuanian: gesinti, užgesinti
Maltese: tefa
Maori: poko, tinetinei, tinei, whakapoko, whakaweto
Mongolian: унтраах (untraax)
Norwegian: slukke
Occitan: atudar (oc), esténher (oc), esténger
Polish: stłumić (pl), ugasić (pl), zgasić (pl)
Portuguese: extinguir (pt), apagar (pt)
Quechua: thasnuy
Romanian: stinge (ro)
Romansch: stüder, stüzzer, stidar, stizar
Russian: туши́ть (ru) impf (tušítʹ), потуши́ть (ru) pf (potušítʹ), гаси́ть (ru) impf (gasítʹ), погаси́ть (ru) pf (pogasítʹ)
Sardinian: ammortiare
Scottish Gaelic: smàil
Spanish: extinguir (es), apagar (es)
Swahili: kuzima
Swedish: släcka (sv)
Telugu: ఆర్పు (te) (ārpu)
Thai: ดับ (th) (dàp)
Tocharian B: käs-
Turkish: söndürmek (tr), öçürmek (tr)
Turkmen: söndürmek, öçürmek
Uyghur: ئۆچۈرمەك (öchürmek)
Uzbek: oʻchirmoq (uz)
Vietnamese: dập tắt
Welsh: diffodd (cy)
Yiddish: אויסלעשן (oysleshn)
Zhuang: ndaep

to eclipse or obscure (someone or something) — see also eclipse,‎ obscure

Danish: slukke (da), skygge for
Dutch: verduisteren (nl)
Finnish: himmentää (fi)
Polish: ugasić (pl)
Russian: cкрывать (ckryvatʹ), затмить (ru) (zatmitʹ)

to kill (someone) — see kill

to put an end to (something) completely — see also annihilate,‎ destroy

Bulgarian: унищожавам (bg) (uništožavam)
Danish: slukke (da), udslukke
Dutch: vernietigen (nl)
Finnish: tuhota (fi)
German: auslöschen (de)
Japanese: 打っ潰す (buttsubusu), 絶やす (ja) (tayasu)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ئیبادەت (îbadet)
Latin: perimō
Maori: whakanoa
Polish: stłumić (pl)
Russian: разрушить (ru) (razrušitʹ), уничтожить (ru) (uničtožitʹ)
Swedish: släcka (sv), utsläcka
Uyghur: يوقاتماق (yoqatmaq), يوقالماق (yoqalmaq)
Uzbek: yoʻq qilmoq

to bring about the extinction of (a conditioned reflex)

Finnish: sammuttaa (fi)
German: auslöschen (de), abschalten (de)

to suppress (something, as feelings, a person’s spirit, a state of affairs, etc.) — see suppress

to abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); to cancel (a creditor’s claim, a licence, etc.) — see abolish,‎ cancel,‎ void

to die out — see die out

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} temirandin (ku) (1), ^{(please verify)} tefandin (ku) (1), ^{(please verify)} vemirandin (ku) (1,2), ^{(please verify)} reş kirin (ku) (1), ^{(please verify)} vekuştin (ku) (1,2)