defunct

Definitions

de- (off, completed) + functus (having discharged one's duty) = 'finished performing for good.' Once something has fully discharged its role, it no longer operates — hence 'no longer functioning / no longer in existence.' The de- here marks the end of the performing, not a reversal of it.

Why It Means This

Defunct literally describes something that has 'discharged its duty' so completely that it has stopped forever. English first used it for dead people, but the dominant modern sense is institutional: companies, laws, websites, and organizations that have ceased operating. Note it is almost always used before a noun or after 'be' — you call a thing defunct, you don't 'defunct' it.

Common Collocations

• 1.defunct company倒闭的公司
• 2.defunct airline已停运的航空公司
• 3.now defunct如今已不存在的
• 4.long defunct早已废止的
• 5.defunct organization已解散的组织

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The shop now occupies the site of a defunct cinema.

• 2.

  The agreement refers to a treaty that is now defunct.

• 3.

  He inherited shares in a long-defunct mining company.

• 4.

  The link points to a defunct website that no longer loads.

Easily Confused

defunct vs extinct vs obsolete — defunct = stopped operating/existing, mostly for organizations and institutions (a defunct bank). extinct = died out completely, for species or things with no survivors (an extinct volcano, an extinct language). obsolete = outdated and replaced, still may exist but no longer used (obsolete software).