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Extinction

//ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The action of making or becoming extinct; annihilation. countable, uncountable

    "Thirteen long centuries have elapsed since the extinction of the last Zoroastrian Empire[…]"

  2. 2
    the act of extinguishing; causing to stop burning wordnet
  3. 3
    The absorption or scattering of electromagnetic radiation emitted by astronomical objects by intervening dust and gas before it reaches the observer. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus wordnet
  5. 5
    The inability to perceive multiple stimuli simultaneously. countable, uncountable
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    complete annihilation wordnet
  2. 7
    The fading of a conditioned response over time if it is not reinforced. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    the reduction of the intensity of radiation as a consequence of absorption and radiation wordnet
  4. 9
    no longer in existence wordnet
  5. 10
    no longer active; extinguished wordnet

Etymology

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

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