Also 5 extinccion. [ad. L. ex(s)tinctiōn-em, n. of action f. ex(s)tinguĕre: see EXTINGUISH. Cf. F. extinction.] The action of extinguishing; the fact or state of being extinguished.
1. The quenching, putting out (of fire, light, anything burning or shining; fig. hopes, passions, life, etc.); the fact of being quenched; the process of becoming, or the condition of being, extinct.
In Optics occas. used for the stoppage of light by absorption, interference, etc.
1494. Fabyan, Chron., VII. 589. He ordeyned at Westminster to brenne perpetuelly wtout extinccion .iiii. tapers of waxe.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. iii. 68. Red hot needles or wires extinguished in quicksilver, do yet acquire a verticity according to the Laws of position in extinction.
1669. Boyle, Contn. New Exp., I. Notes (1682), 191. Several Ignitions and Extinctions.
1672. G. Harvey, Morb. Angl., v. 14. The parts are consumed through extinction of their native heat.
1794. G. Adams, Nat. & Exp. Philos., II. xxi. 406. Reflexion, refraction, and extinction, are affections of light by transparent bodies.
1838. Prescott, Ferd. & Is. (1846), I. iii. 186. The sudden extinction of those hopes which she had so long … cherished.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVI. 424/1. The birth … and extinction of volcanoes are phenomena seen in separate parts of the earth’s surface.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xxvii. 204. The alternate appearance and extinction of the light.
1866. Carlyle, Remin. (1881), II. 275. A bright lamp flickering out into extinction.
b. The slaking (of lime); † ‘the quenching of red-hot minerals in some liquor, to abate their sharpness, or to impart their virtue to the liquor’ (Phillips, 1706); † concr. a tincture made by this process. Extinction of mercury: (see quot. 1842).
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. v. § 3. 85. Gold inwardly taken … either in substance, infusion, decoction or extinction. Ibid., II. v. § 3. 86. It [alloyed gold] is actually dequantitated by fire, and possibly by frequent extinction. Ibid., III. xxii. 165. For speedier operation we make extinctions, infusions, and the like.
1842. Dunglison, Med. Lex. (ed. 3), Extinction of mercury, trituration of mercury with lard or other substance, until the mercury disappears.
1848. Craig, Extinction of lime.
2. Suppression, abolition (of an institution, etc.); the complete wiping out (of a debt).
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xxix. 168. The Extinction of their Democracy.
1748. Anson, Voy., II. xiv. 282. The extinction of their religion, and the slaughter of their ancestors.
1751. Johnson, Rambler, No. 145, ¶ 1. The public would suffer … inconvenience … from the extinction of any common trade.
1839. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. 469. After the extinction of the national independence.
1845. McCulloch, Taxation (1852), 462. The plan for the gradual extinction of the national debt.
3. The action of blotting (a living being, a soul) out of existence; destruction, annihilation.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 333. We therefore define an abortment to be Either the issuing of an imperfect Infant or his extinction and death in the wombe.
1646. Bp. Hall, Balm Gil., 188. The utter extinction of those we loved.
1676. Glanvill, Ess., v. 19. Doctrines, such as … utter extinction, and annihilation of the Wicked after the Day of Judgment.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 135. Which destruction they call the second death, and describe it as a perfect extinction.
1878. Browning, La Saisiaz, 32. I … declare the soul’s eclipse Not the soul’s extinction.
† b. Effacement, utter disgrace or ruin (of a person). Obs.
1542. Udall, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 5. To recover a man from present extinction.
4. Of a race, family, species, etc.: The fact or process of becoming extinct; a coming to an end or dying out; the condition of being extinct.
1602. Fulbecke, 2nd Pt. Parall., 63. If a man deuise to his daughter his lands … vntill she marie,… it onely signifieth an extinction of the legacie when the mariage is accomplished.
1659. C. Noble, Moderate Answ. Immod. Queries, 15. By … extinction of the male blood, it received an alteration.
a. 1729. J. Rogers, 19 Serm. (1735), 135. That the Extinction of Nations, and the Desolation of Kingdoms, that all the Instances of Misery and Affliction which attend Mankind, were but the Effects of this destructive Evil.
1818. Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), VI. 569. Any number of lives, the extinction of which could be proved without difficulty.
1875. Bryce, Holy Rom. Emp., xix. (ed. 5), 354. The extinction of the male line of Hapsburg in the person of Charles the Sixth.
1880. A. R. Wallace, Isl. Life, 61. The most effective agent in the extinction of species is the pressure of other species.
