灭绝

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 恐龙早已灭绝。▶ —
   Dinosaurs went extinct long ago.
2. 人类活动导致许多物种灭绝。▶ —
   Human activity has caused many species to go extinct.

Collocations

Mnemonic

灭 miè "to extinguish" + 绝 jué "to cut off, exhaust": utterly wiped out with the line cut off, i.e. to go extinct. Its sense matches the Korean myeol-jong (滅種) though the characters differ (Chinese 灭绝 vs Korean 滅種). A species vanishing completely from the earth (物种灭绝 species extinction). It often pairs with 濒临灭绝 (on the brink of extinction). 灭 means "to extinguish" (消灭, 灭火); 绝 means "to cut off, exhaust" (断绝, 绝种).

Related

Quick check

1. What does 灭绝 mean?

   • a species vanishing completely (extinction)
   • creating a new species
   • increasing in number
   • hiding briefly