extinction
/ɪkˈstɪŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n
/ /ɛkˈstɪŋ(k)ʃ(ə)n/noun [mass noun]
1The state or process of being or becoming extinct: the extinction of the great auk [count noun]: mass extinctions...
- Marine fossil evidence tells of numerous extinctions, global mass extinction, and geochemical events.
- There have been five major mass extinctions and more than 20 minor mass extinctions.
- We're facing critical mass extinctions across a whole variety of ecosystems once the two degree level has been crossed, from coral reefs to rainforests.
Synonyms
dying out, disappearance, vanishing, death;
extermination, destruction, elimination, eradication, annihilation
1.1The wiping out of a debt: a private debt extinction fund...
- The principle of automatic extinction of the claim/debt on confusion has adverse consequences in the capital markets.
- The policy of Immediate debt extinction was initiated by Gallalin.
2 Physics Reduction to zero in the intensity of light or other radiation as it passes through a medium, due to absorption, reflection, or scattering: ultraviolet extinction...
- The concentration was employed to transform the experimentally obtained absorption into extinction coefficient spectra.
- The pattern of turnover within a stage is important for understanding the mechanisms of radiation and extinction.
- Will improved classification schemes allow better understanding of extinction and radiation events?
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin exstinctio(n-), from exstinguere 'quench' (see extinguish).