ruin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈruː.ɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English ruyne, borrowed from Old French ruine, a learned borrowing, and also directly borrowed from Latin ruīna (“collapse, a rushing down”),^[2][3][4] from ruere (“to rush, fall, collapse”),^[2][3][5] which Barnhart calls of obscure origin and Etymonline derives from PIE Proto-Indo-European *reuə- (“to smash, knock down”).^[2][4] The verb is borrowed from Middle French ruiner, or Medieval Latin ruīnāre.^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of giving way and falling down, of a building or other structure: about 1375.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

A ruinous condition, and figuratively degradation or downfall, are about 1380 in Chaucer's House of Fame,^[2] with the downfall of a person or society from the late 14th century.^[4] The remains of a building, ruins, are from 1454,^[7] and Barnhart has devastation and wreckage before 1420.^[2] That which causes destruction (drink was his ruin) is from the early 15th century,^[4] the dishonour of a woman from the 1620s,^[4] and violent or complete destruction of anything from the 17th century.^[4] The verb meant to destroy or eradicate in 1581 in Sidney,^[2] to reduce a place to ruins in the 1580s, and to inflict disaster on someone from the 1610s;^[4] to bring to financial ruin is from the 1650s.^[4] Ruination is from 1664.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1375 – a falling down, a collapse.^[2][7]
• c. 1380 – a state of ruin, in Chaucer.^[2]
• 1454 – ruins, remains.^[7]
• 1581 – the verb, to destroy, in Sidney.^[2]
• 1620s – dishonour of a woman.^[4]
• 1650s – to bankrupt.^[4]
• 1664 – ruination.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Total destruction or decay, physical, moral, social or financial.
2. Something that causes such destruction.
3. (often ruins) The remains of a destroyed or decayed building or town.
4. Loss of wealth or position; bankruptcy.

Verb

1. To destroy completely or spoil beyond repair.
2. To reduce to poverty or bankruptcy.
3. (archaic) To deprive a woman of her chastity.

Word family

• ruinable
• ruiner
• ruinate
• ruination

Related words

• ruinous
• rough

Usage notes

In Northumberland mining dialect a ruin was a part of a colliery where the roof had fallen in.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)