Extinguir

Extinguir is a Portuguese verb meaning to extinguish, put out, or terminate something that is burning or active. Its core sense is to extinguish a flame or light, as in extinguir o fogo or extinguir a vela. The verb also covers the figurative sense of ending or nullifying an effect, such as extinguir direitos, obrigações ou pretensões, i.e., extinguishing a right, obligation, or claim. In legal and administrative language, extinguir can refer to ending a contract, a debt, or a procedural effect. The common participle is extinto, used with auxiliary ter or ser to form perfect tenses, and the gerund is extinguindo. The infinitive form is extinguir.

Etymology: extinguir derives from Latin exstinguere, formed by ex- “out” + stinguere “to quench,” and entered Portuguese with the current spelling extinguir. The term has cognates in other Romance languages, such as Spanish extinguir.

Usage notes: In everyday speech, apagar is often preferred for lighting or small fires, but extinguir remains standard in formal, technical, or legal language. In phrases like “o fogo foi extinto,” the passive voice uses the past participle extinto. The feminine form extinta is used when the referring noun is feminine (for example, a chama extinta). The word can also appear in abstract senses of ending or dissolving a rule, regulation, or jurisdiction.

Conjugation: extinguir is a verb of the -ir class and forms its tenses with the characteristic patterns of this group, with extinto as the standard past participle. As with many verbs of this class, some forms may vary by regional usage.