vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈva-nish How to pronounce vanish (audio)
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

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 For all that, local sports are in no danger of vanishing from the airwaves. Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 8 Oct. 2024 In March, a screenprint of the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong vanished from a community college in California. Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Oct. 2024 Mine, low to begin with, vanished as the book progressed, or, rather, failed to. Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024 Our current constellations will go all wobbly in the sky and then vanish. Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for vanish 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vanish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of vanish was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near vanish

Cite this Entry

“Vanish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vanish. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

vanish

verb
van·​ish ˈvan-ish How to pronounce vanish (audio)
: to pass from sight or existence
vanisher noun

More from Merriam-Webster on vanish

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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