ruin

See also: Ruin, rùin, and rúin

English

Ruins at Delphi in Greece

Etymology

From Middle English ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ruīna (“overthrow, ruin”), from ruō (“I fall down, tumble, sink in ruin, rush”).

Pronunciation

Noun

ruin (countable and uncountable, plural ruins)

  1. (countable, sometimes in the plural) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
    • Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
      The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ruins lay.
    • Joseph Stevens Buckminster (1751-1812)
      The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess‎:
      A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.
  2. (uncountable) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
    The monastery has fallen into ruin.
  3. (uncountable) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
    Gambling has been the ruin of many.
    • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
      The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
      The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He […] played a lone hand, […]. Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.
  4. (obsolete) A fall or tumble.
  5. A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
    the ruin of a ship or an army;  the ruin of a constitution or a government;  the ruin of health or hopes
    • Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
      Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!
  6. (uncountable) Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.

Translations

Verb

ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins, present participle ruining, simple past and past participle ruined)

  1. (transitive) to cause the fiscal ruin of.
    With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he kept on staying week after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long exhausted...
  2. To destroy or make something no longer usable.
    He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
    • Longfellow
      By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeling ruined cities in the ashes.
  3. To cause severe financial loss to; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
    The crooked stockbroker's fraudulent scheme ruined dozens of victims; some investors lost their life savings and even their houses.
  4. To upset or mess up the plans or progress of, or to put into disarray; to spoil.
    My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.
  5. (obsolete) To fall into a state of destruction.
    • Sandys
      Though he his house of polisht marble build, / Yet shall it ruine like the Moth's fraile cell

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

Further reading

  • ruin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • ruin in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • ruin at OneLook Dictionary Search

Asturian

Adjective

ruin m sg (feminine singular ruina, neuter singular ruino, masculine plural ruinos, feminine plural ruines)

  1. weedy

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ruun. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /rœy̯n/
  • Rhymes: -œy̯n
  • audio(file)

Noun

ruin m (plural ruinen, diminutive ruintje n)

  1. gelding

See also

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruiner, definite plural ruinene)

  1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruinar, definite plural ruinane)

  1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈrwjn]

Etymology

From ruina

Adjective

ruin (plural ruines)

  1. contemptible, mean, heartless
  2. mean, stingy

Synonyms

Swedish

Noun

ruin c

  1. a ruin (remains of a building)
  2. ruin (financial bankruptcy)

Declension

Declension of ruin 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative ruin ruinen ruiner ruinerna
Genitive ruins ruinens ruiners ruinernas
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