絶滅
ぜつめつ · zetsumetsu · JLPT N3 · noun
extinction
🦖 絶 sever + 滅 perish = a line cut off and wiped out
絶 (zetsu) means to cut off or end, as in 絶対 (absolute). 滅 (metsu) means to perish or be destroyed. Put them together and you get a line that ends and is gone for good. Dinosaurs are the classic example: 恐竜は絶滅した.