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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The opportunity to understand what went wrong vanished when Onyxx was cremated. Audrey Dutton, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2024 The victim vanished on March 31, 2023 after dropping off her and Fravel’s two children at daycare in Winona. David K. Li, NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024 According to the Center for Migration Studies of New York, at least 5,400 people have died or vanished along the U.S.-Mexico border from August 2014 to August 2024. Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2024 Arms-control agreements have unraveled, diplomatic channels between adversaries have vanished, and establishing nuclear deterrence has never been more complicated. Uri Friedman, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for vanish 

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 21 Nov. 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!