extinction

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun no longer active; extinguished
  2. noun no longer in existence
  3. noun the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation

Etymology

From late Middle English, borrowed from Latin extinctio (“extinction, annihilation”), from extinguere, past participle extinctus (“to extinguish”); see extinguish.

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