Unextinguished

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Remaining in existence without being extinguished or ended
2. Continuing to exist without being extinguished or quenched
3. Still active or burning without having been put out

Etymology: "Unextinguished" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not," attached to "extinguished," the past participle of "extinguish." The prefix goes back through Old English and Germanic to an ancient negative root shared by many languages, and it was productive in English long before this word appeared. Its use is the sort of thing that gets built fresh whenever a writer needs to say a fire, light, or passion has not gone out. "Extinguished" itself comes from the Latin "extinguere," meaning "to quench" or "put out," built from "ex-" (out) and "stinguere" (to quench). Its literal sense of putting out a flame was carried over into figurative uses, such as extinguishing hope or a line of succession, which is why the word now works as easily for feelings as for fires. "Unextinguished" follows that same path, applying the negation to the literal and figurative senses alike.

Synonyms: unquenched, alive, burning, ongoing, unfaded

Antonyms: extinguished, dead, quenched, dormant, inactive