The Chinese word 灭绝 (mièjué), meaning "to become extinct" or "to exterminate completely", is a compound word formed through the combination of two semantically related characters. The first character, 灭 (miè), carries the core meaning of "to extinguish", "to destroy", or "to die out". The second character, 绝 (jué), means "to sever", "to cut off", or "to come to an end". When combined, their meanings converge and intensify to express the concept of a total and irreversible termination, specifically, the dying out of a species or the utter annihilation of something, where it is both extinguished and its lineage or continuity is permanently severed. This formation is a classic example of a parallel or coordinative compound, where both components contribute similar and reinforcing ideas to create a single, more emphatic concept.