extinguishment

noun

"extinguishment" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“extinguishment” is uncommon English (frequency #91,480 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,480
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of extinguishing, putting out, or quenching, or the state of being extinguished.

Corpus desk

Index EN-extinguishment · extinguishment · English

extinguishment · rank #91,480 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,480
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH eyeless

Nearest frequency peer: eyeless (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “extinguishment”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “extinguishment” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for extinguishment
PropertyValue
Headwordextinguishment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Frequency rank#91,480
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “extinguishment” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).extinguishmentfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “eyeless” (#91,481), “evisceration” (#91,478), “essentialist” (#91,477). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “extinguishment” is #91,480. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

extinguishment is uncommon English at frequency #91,480 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

extinguishment has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From extinguish + -ment. The correct English form is extinguishment, spelled E-X-T-I-N-G-U-I-S-H-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of extinguishing, putting out, or quenching, or the state of being extinguished.
  2. 2
    The annihilation or extinction of a right or obligation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how extinguishment appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] surely there have been atrocities which demanded of the white man the punishment of the evil-doer; but far more have been the starvings and the flights and the extinguishments which have visited the Indian, for the offence of living […]

Etymology

From extinguish + -ment.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "extinguishment"?
"extinguishment" is spelled E-X-T-I-N-G-U-I-S-H-M-E-N-T.
What does "extinguishment" mean?
As a noun, "extinguishment" means: The act of extinguishing, putting out, or quenching, or the state of being extinguished.
What is the origin of the word "extinguishment"?
From extinguish + -ment. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "extinguishment", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list