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Origin and history of extinct

extinct(adj.)

early 15c., "extinguished, quenched," from Latin extinctus/exstinctus, past participle of extinguere/exstinguere "to put out, quench; go out, die out; kill, destroy" (see extinguish). Originally of fires; in reference to the condition of a family or a hereditary title that has "died out," from 1580s; of species by 1690s. Shakespeare uses it as a verb. Compare extinction.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to extinct

extinction(n.)

early 15c., "annihilation," from Latin extinctionem/exstinctionem (nominative extinctio/exstinctio) "extinction, annihilation," noun of action from past-participle stem of extinguere/exstinguere "quench, wipe out" (see extinguish). Originally of fires, lights; figurative use, the wiping out of a material thing (a debt, a person, a family, etc.) from early 17c.; of species by 1784. Blount (1650s) has extinctness "quality of being extinct."

extinguish(v.)

"to put out, quench, stifle," 1540s, from Latin extinguere/exstinguere "quench, put out (what is burning); wipe out, obliterate," from ex "out" (see ex-) + stinguere "quench," apparently an evolved sense from PIE *steig- "to prick, stick, pierce" (see stick (v.)). But see distinguish (v.). Related: Extinguished; extinguishing.

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    Trends of extinct

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    active
    mid-14c., actif, active, "given to worldly activity" (opposed to contemplative or monastic), from Old French actif (12c.) and directly from Latin activus, from actus "a doing" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). As "capable of acting" (opposed to passive), f
    out
    expressing motion or direction from within or from a central point, also removal from proper place or position, Old English ut "out, without, outside," from Proto-Germanic *ūt- (Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Gothic ut, Middle Dutch uut, Dutch uit, Old High German uz, German
    rapscallion
    It had a parallel in now-extinct rampallion (1590s), from Middle English ramp (n.2) "ill-behaved woman."...
    falsehood
    Former noun forms in English, now extinct, included falsage "wrongdoing" (late 15c.), falsdom "deceitfulness, treachery;...
    solemnize
    The verb solemn (Middle English solempnen, mid-14c.) seems to have been extinct from 16c....
    parboil
    The etymological sense is extinct in English; the surviving meaning "boil partially" is by mistaken association of the prefix...
    careless
    The original recorded senses was extinct by mid-17c....
    out-
    in Old English a common prefix with nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, "out, outward, outer; forth, away," from out (adv.). The use was even more common in Middle English, and also with the senses "outer, outside, on the outside, from without, external, externally; apart
    switch
    1590s, "slender riding whip," probably from a variant of a Flemish or Low German word akin to Middle Dutch swijch "bough, twig," or from swutsche, variant of Low German zwukse "long thin stick, switch," from Germanic *swih- (source also of Old High German zwec "wooden peg," Germa
    costume
    1715, "style of dress," but also more broadly "custom or usage with respect to place and time, as represented in art or literature; distinctive action, appearance, arms, furniture, etc.," from French costume (17c.), from Italian costume "fashion, habit," from Latin consuetudinem

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