Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To pass out of sight, especially quickly; disappear. synonym: disappear.
  • intransitive verb To pass out of existence.
  • intransitive verb Mathematics To become zero. Used of a function or variable.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To disappear quickly; pass from a visible to an invisible state; become imperceptible.
  • To pass out of view; pass beyond the limit of vision; disappear gradually; fade away.
  • To pass away; be annihilated or lost; be no more.
  • To rise or be given off, as breath; exhale.
  • In mathematics, to become zero.
  • noun In phonetics, a sound with which another principal sound vanishes or ends, as the ē-sound of ā (the i in ei as pronounced in veil), or the ö-sound of ō (the u in ou as pronounced in soul).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Phon.) The brief terminal part of a vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality from the main part.
  • intransitive verb To pass from a visible to an invisible state; to go out of sight; to disappear; to fade.
  • intransitive verb To be annihilated or lost; to pass away.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To become invisible or to move out of view unnoticed.
  • verb mathematics To become equal to zero.
  • noun phonetics The brief terminal part of a vowel or vocal element, differing more or less in quality from the main part.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cease to exist
  • verb become invisible or unnoticeable
  • verb pass away rapidly
  • verb decrease rapidly and disappear
  • verb get lost, as without warning or explanation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English vanisshen, alteration of Old French esvanir, esvaniss-, from Vulgar Latin *exvanīre, alteration of Latin ēvānēscere : ē-, ex-, ex- + vānēscere, to vanish (from vānus, empty; see euə- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Aphetic for obsolete evanish, from Middle English, from Old French esvanir, esvaniss- (French évanouir), Vulgar Latin evanescere, from vanus ("empty")

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Examples

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  • from the now obsolete "evanish"

    March 7, 2007