# extinguish

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɪkˈstɪŋ.ɡwɪʃ/ · frequency rank #27,453

## Definitions
1. To stop (fire, etc.) from burning; also, to stop (light, etc.) from shining; to put out, to quench.
2. To eclipse or obscure (someone or something).
3. To kill (someone).
4. To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
5. To put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
6. To suppress (something, as feelings, a person's spirit, a state of affairs, etc.); to quench.
7. To abolish or make void (a law, a legal right, etc.); also, to cancel (a creditor's claim, a licence, etc.).
8. To die out.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Latin extinguo (“to put out (what is burning), quench, extinguish, deprive of life, destroy, abolish”), from ex (“out”) + stinguere (“to put out, quench, extinguish”). Doublet of extinct.

## Easily confused with
- **extinguished** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/extinguish-vs-extinguished)
- **extinguisher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/extinguish-vs-extinguisher)

## Common misspellings (15)
`etxinguish`, `exitnguish`, `extignuish`, `extingguish`, `extingiush`, `extinguihs`, `extinguishh`, `extinguissh`, `extingusih`, `extinnguish`, `extinugish`, `extniguish`, `exttinguish`, `exxtinguish`, `xetinguish`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/extinguish