ruina

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ruˈiː.na]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ruˈiː.na]^[1]

Forms

ruīna f (genitive ruīnae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from ruō “to rush, collapse” with the suffix -īna.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius, of a headlong fall, and Lewis and Short cite his grandinis ruīna “the fall of hail”.^[2][3] Köbler's first source is Caesar; he dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a headlong rush, as in Virgil, a headlong fall, and ruīnam dare to fall or cause to fall.^[2] From Caesar it meant the collapse of a building, and in Virgil of natural structures, landslides and avalanches.^[2] Concretely it meant falling debris, and in the plural the ruins of a building or town, as in Cicero.^[2] Figuratively it meant ruin, downfall, of persons or communities, defeat in battle or argument, and a source of ruin, as in Cicero.^[2] Döderlein explains that ruīna is the collapse of things built up when their base gives way, strāgēs the throwing down of standing bodies.^[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant ruin, destruction, invasion, breach, fall, debris.^[6] English ruin is recorded in late Old English as “act of falling down”, and Old French ruine also comes from it.^[7] It survives in Italian ruina and rovina.^[1]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a fall.^[2][3][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a collapsing building.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of ruins and of downfall.^[2][4]
• late Old English – English ruin is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A headlong rush; a headlong fall.^[2]
2. A collapse; a landslide.^[2]
3. Debris, (plural) ruins.^[2]
4. Ruin, downfall; a defeat.^[2]
5. A source of ruin.^[2]

Word family

• ruīnōsus

Related words

• corruō
• ruīnō
• ruō
• strāgēs
• English ruin

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com