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

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

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