1.
to cease, to come to an end, to be cut off
For something that was continuing to stop completely. Often used for communication, sound, supply, or a continuous state being interrupted.
連絡が絶えた。
Contact was cut off.
客足が絶えない人気店だ。
It's a popular shop where the flow of customers never stops.
笑いの絶えない家庭を築きたい。
I want to build a home that is always full of laughter.
Literally: a home where laughter never ceases.
2.
to die out, to become extinct, to be discontinued
For a lineage, species, tradition, or practice to completely disappear, with no continuation remaining.
この技術は後継者がおらず絶えてしまった。
This craft died out because there were no successors.
家系が絶える。
A family line dies out.
戦争で村の伝統行事が絶えてしまった。
The village's traditional events were lost due to the war.
GRAMMAR:
Ichidan verb (絶える → 絶えます). Intransitive. Very commonly used in the negative form 絶えない (never ceases), which has a positive nuance: 笑いが絶えない (always laughing), 客が絶えない (always busy with customers).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 連絡が絶える: contact is lost
- 笑いが絶えない: laughter never stops
- 客足が絶えない: customers keep coming
- 家系が絶える: a family line dies out
- 息が絶える: to breathe one's last
SIMILAR WORDS:
The homophone 耐える means "to endure" — a completely different word. 途絶える is a near-synonym that emphasizes interruption of something expected to continue.