mid-15c., "repulsion;" 1540s, "utter destruction, eradication," from Middle French extermination and directly from Latin exterminationem (nominative exterminatio) "ejection, banishment," noun of action from past-participle stem of exterminare "drive out, expel, put aside, drive beyond boundaries," also, in Late Latin "destroy," from phrase ex termine "beyond the boundary," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + termine, ablative of termen "boundary, limit, end" (see terminus).

early 15c., "overt;" by 1590s as "situated or lying outside," from Latin externus "outside, outward" (from exterus; see exterior) + -al (1). This version won out over exterial. Related: Externally.

"act of externalizing; fact of being externalized," 1803; see external + -ization.

"to embody in an outward form; convey the quality of external reality upon," 1846, from external + -ize. Related: Externalized; externalizing.

Self-government begins with a reverential recognition of a supreme law: its process is a constant endeavor to render that law objective, real, operative—to externalize it, if we may use the term. [American Review, July, 1846]

"to put out, quench, stifle," 1540s, from Latin extinguere/exstinguere "quench, put out (what is burning); wipe out, obliterate," from ex "out" (see ex-) + stinguere "quench," apparently an evolved sense from PIE *steig- "to prick, stick, pierce" (see stick (v.)). But see distinguish (v.). Related: Extinguished; extinguishing.