Other forms: extinguished, extinguishing, extinguishes
To extinguish is to put out a fire or a light. Completely, and on purpose.
It is the formal word, which is why fire extinguisher is the name on the red cylinder and nobody calls it a fire putter-outer. It also covers hope, rights and debts, since extinguishing a right in law means ending it entirely, and that use is technical and serious. The adjective extinct comes from the same root and means a species that has been put out for good.
1verbextinguishTo put out a fire or a light.
“It took two hours to extinguish the blaze.”
2verbendTo end something completely.
“The verdict will extinguish any remaining claim.”
Extinguish is quenching out. Latin ex, out, plus stinguō, to put out, and the same verb stands behind extinct: a fire that has gone out for good.
Latin
extinguo — to put out (what is burning), quench, extinguish, deprive of life, destroy, abolish
English, today
extinguish
Built from
Borrowed from Latin extinguo (“to put out (what is burning), quench, extinguish, deprive of life, destroy, abolish”), from ex (“out”) + stinguo (“to put out, quench, extinguish”). a doublet of extinct.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA