English
extinct
Extinct comes from Latin extīnctus ‘extinguished, quenched’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- ‘to push’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stengʷ-‘to push’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstinguō‘to extinguish, put out, quench’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexstinguō‘to extinguish, put out, quench’next step skipped: Latin extinguō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEextīnctus‘extinguished, quenched’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500extinct‘eliminated, eradicated, extinguished’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stengʷ-‘to push’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstinguō‘to extinguish, put out, quench’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexstinguō‘to extinguish, put out, quench’next step skipped: Latin extinguō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEextīnctus‘extinguished, quenched’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500extinct‘eliminated, eradicated, extinguished’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611same form
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “My breath is corrupt, my dayes are extinct, the…”
The story
From Late Middle English extinct (‘eliminated, eradicated, extinguished’), from Latin extīnctus, exstīnctus (‘extinguished, quenched; destroyed, killed; made extinct’), the perfect passive participles of extinguō, exstinguō (‘to extinguish, put out, quench; (figurative) to abolish; to destroy, kill’), from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + stinguō (‘to extinguish, put out, quench’) (from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (‘to push’)). The Middle English word displaced Middle English aqueint, aquenched (‘extinct; extinguished’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- ‘to push’
through Latin stinguō ‘to extinguish, put out, quench’
Today it means
adj Of fire, etc.: no longer alight; of a light, etc.: no longer shining; extinguished, quenched.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- / extinct