extinguishment

Extinguishment is the act of causing something to cease to exist, be suppressed, or become unenforceable. The term is used across several domains, including fire safety, law, and finance, to describe the ending or stopping of a condition, obligation, or phenomenon.

In fire safety, extinguishment refers to stopping a fire and preventing its spread. It involves removing one or more elements of the fire triangle—heat, fuel, and oxygen—and cooling or smothering the flames. Common methods include applying water to absorb heat, using foams or blankets to separate fuel and air, and deploying chemical extinguants that interrupt the chemical reactions occurring in flames. Fire extinguishers are classified by the types of fires they are designed to combat, such as ordinary combustibles, flammable liquids, energized electrical equipment, metals, and cooking oils. Effective extinguishment requires early detection, correct agent selection, and thorough cooling to prevent reignition.

Legal extinguishment describes the termination of rights, claims, or obligations. Rights or claims can be extinguished by lapse of time (prescription), full satisfaction or payment, release, or settlement. Contracts, debts, and other obligations may be discharged or novated to extinguish liability. After extinguishment, the affected right or claim can no longer be enforced in court, and corresponding duties are deemed fulfilled or terminated, subject to any final settlements or applicable jurisdictional rules.

In other contexts, extinguishment can occur in engineering and safety practices, such as arc extinguishment in electrical systems, where an electrical arc is interrupted to stop current flow, or in risk management, where a hazard is neutralized through containment and suppression.