Defunct
/dɪˈfʌŋkt/noun
No longer existing, operating, or in use.
Did you know?Defunct comes from Latin defunctus, the past participle of defungi, meaning “to perform one’s duty” or “to finish one’s task,” so the word originally carried the eerie sense of a life that had been completed.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheugh-
“to be fit for, to accomplish, to produce”
Latin
Latin
fungi
“to perform, execute, discharge (a duty)”
Latin
Latin
defungi
“to finish with, discharge, perform fully; later, to die”
Late Latin
Latin
defunctus
“finished, deceased”
Middle English
English
defunct
“dead; no longer in use or functioning”
Modern English
English
defunct
“no longer existing, operating, or in use”