This noun denotes disappearance or destruction, the process of something vanishing from sight or existence. In Hebrews 8:13, it describes the old covenant as 'becoming obsolete and growing old' and thus 'ready to disappear' (ἀφανισμός). The term captures the twilight moment when something ancient fades into irrelevance and dissolution. Classical uses include extermination and astronomical occultation—stars eclipsed by the sun. The author of Hebrews employs it to signal the imminent obsolescence of the Mosaic economy, already aging and nearing its vanishing point with the arrival of the new covenant.