vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈva-nish 

vanished; vanishing; vanishes

intransitive verb

1

a

: to pass quickly from sight : disappear

b

: to pass completely from existence

2

: to assume the value zero

transitive verb

: to cause to disappear

vanisher noun

Synonyms

• dematerialize
• disappear
• dissolve
• evanesce
• evaporate
• fade
• flee
• fly
• melt
• sink

Examples of vanish in a Sentence

The missing girl vanished without a trace a year ago.

The papers seem to have vanished into thin air.

Dinosaurs vanished from the face of the earth millions of years ago.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Mae vanished when both girls heard Vernestra’s ship gearing for a landing somewhere in the distance. —Keisha Hatchett, TVLine, 16 July 2024

Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, some important modernist paintings vanished during the Russian occupation of Kherson. —George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2024

The Xerces blue butterfly vanished from San Francisco in the 1940s. —Dino Grandoni, Washington Post, 15 July 2024

Development, for instance, is only part of the reason why the once abundant atala vanished nearly a half century ago. —Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 13 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vanisshen, borrowed from Anglo-French vaniss- stem of vanir, envanir, esvanir, going back to Vulgar Latin *exvānīre, restructuring of Latin ēvānēscere "to fade away, disappear," from ē- e- entry 1 + vānēscere "to pass from existence," inchoative verb derivative of vānus "empty, lacking content" — more at wane entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing vanish

• disappear/vanish into thin air

Kids Definition

vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈvan-ish 

: to pass from sight or existence

vanisher noun