灭绝

• Pinyin: miè jué
• Hanzi breakdown: 灭 = 氵 (extinguish) + 一 (cover) — to put out; 绝 = 纟 (thread) + 刀 (knife) + 卩 (figure) — to cut off completely

Meaning

To become extinct; to exterminate; to wipe out completely. The total elimination of a species, culture, language, or group.

Used in ecology (物种灭绝 — species extinction), history (文化灭绝 — cultural extinction), and historical discourse. The passive form (走向灭绝, 濒临灭绝) is common in environmental policy writing. Implies complete and irreversible elimination with no survivors.

Examples

1. 联合国生物多样性报告警告，若不立即采取有效的栖息地保护措施，部分极度濒危的两栖动物物种将在本世纪内走向灭绝。 A United Nations biodiversity report warns that unless effective habitat protection measures are taken immediately, some critically endangered amphibian species will go extinct within this century.
2. 历史上曾有数种文字因其使用群体的消亡或强制同化政策的推行而彻底灭绝，这些逝去的文字系统成为人类文明史上难以弥补的损失。 Historically, several writing systems have gone completely extinct due to the disappearance of the communities that used them or the enforcement of assimilation policies; these lost scripts are an irreparable loss in the history of human civilization.
3. 气候科学家通过对地质沉积层的分析发现，地球历史上已发生过五次大规模的生物灭绝事件，每次都伴随着全球环境的剧烈变化。 By analyzing geological sediment layers, climate scientists have found that Earth has experienced five mass extinction events in its history, each accompanied by dramatic changes in the global environment.

Usage Guide

Context: ecology, history, ethics, policy, science

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 为挽救濒临灭绝的华南虎，政府在几处自然保护区内建立了人工繁育基地，并严格禁止在其潜在栖息地范围内进行任何形式的工业开发活动。(To rescue the critically endangered South China tiger from extinction, the government established captive breeding bases in several nature reserves and strictly prohibited any form of industrial development within its potential habitat range.)
• 语言学家对全球数百种濒危语言展开抢救性记录工作，力图在这些承载着独特认知方式和文化记忆的语言彻底灭绝前留存下完整的文献资料。(Linguists have undertaken emergency documentation work for hundreds of endangered languages worldwide, striving to preserve complete archival materials before these languages — each carrying unique cognitive frameworks and cultural memory — become entirely extinct.)

Don't Say

• 在学术写作或政策文件中将'灭绝'用于夸张的比喻表达 — 灭绝在正式语境中指彻底、不可逆的消亡，具有严肃的科学和历史内涵，应避免将其用作日常夸张表达，以免误导读者对该词严肃程度的认知 (Avoid using 灭绝 hyperbolically in academic or policy documents — in formal usage it refers to total, irreversible elimination with serious scientific and historical connotations; do not use it as casual hyperbole)

Origin & History

灭 = 氵 (water, here meaning to put out) + 一 (a cover pressing down) — to extinguish; 绝 = 纟 (thread/silk radical) + 刀 (knife) + 卩 (kneeling figure) — to cut a thread completely. Together: to extinguish and sever entirely, leaving nothing behind.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal