ruin

[roo-in] /ˈru ɪn/
noun
1.
ruins, the remains of a building, city, etc., that has been destroyed or that is in disrepair or a state of decay:
We visited the ruins of ancient Greece.
2.
a destroyed or decayed building, town, etc.
3.
a fallen, wrecked, or decayed condition:
The building fell to ruin.
4.
the downfall, decay, or destruction of anything.
5.
the complete loss of health, means, position, hope, or the like.
6.
something that causes a downfall or destruction; blight:
Alcohol was his ruin.
7.
the downfall of a person; undoing:
the ruin of Oedipus.
8.
a person as the wreck of his or her former self; ravaged individual.
9.
the act of causing destruction or a downfall.
verb (used with object)
10.
to reduce to ruin; devastate.
11.
to bring (a person, company, etc.) to financial ruin; bankrupt.
12.
to injure (a thing) irretrievably.
13.
to induce (a woman) to surrender her virginity; deflower.
verb (used without object)
14.
to fall into ruins; fall to pieces.
15.
to come to ruin.
Origin
1325-75; (noun) Middle English ruine < Middle French < Latin ruīna headlong rush, fall, collapse, equivalent to ru(ere) to fall + -īna -ine2; (v.) (< Middle French ruiner) < Medieval Latin ruīnāre, derivative of Latin ruīna
Related forms
ruinable, adjective
ruiner, noun
half-ruined, adjective
nonruinable, adjective
self-ruin, noun
self-ruined, adjective
unruinable, adjective
Synonyms
3. Ruin, destruction, havoc imply irrevocable and often widespread damage. Destruction may be on a large or small scale (destruction of tissue, of enemy vessels ); it emphasizes particularly the act of destroying, while ruin and havoc emphasize the resultant state. Ruin, from the verb meaning to fall to pieces, suggests a state of decay or disintegration (or an object in that state) that is apt to be more the result of the natural processes of time and change than of sudden violent activity from without: The house has fallen to ruins. Only in its figurative application is it apt to suggest the result of destruction from without: the ruin of her hopes. Havoc, originally a cry that served as the signal for pillaging, has changed its reference from that of spoliation to devastation, being used particularly of the destruction following in the wake of natural calamities: the havoc wrought by flood and pestilence. Today it is used figuratively to refer to the destruction of hopes and plans: This sudden turn of events played havoc with her carefully laid designs. 4. fall, overthrow, defeat, wreck. 10. demolish, destroy, damage. See spoil.
Antonyms
4. construction, creation.
Examples from the web for ruin
  • The celebrity of this, as of other orders, worked its moral ruin.
British Dictionary definitions for ruin

ruin

/ˈruːɪn/
noun
1.
destroyed or decayed building or town
2.
the state or condition of being destroyed or decayed
3.
loss of wealth, position, etc, or something that causes such loss; downfall
4.
something that is severely damaged: his life was a ruin
5.
a person who has suffered a downfall, bankruptcy, etc
6.
loss of value or usefulness
7.
(archaic) loss of her virginity by a woman outside marriage
verb
8.
(transitive) to bring to ruin; destroy
9.
(transitive) to injure or spoil: the town has been ruined with tower blocks
10.
(intransitive) (archaic or poetic) to fall into ruins; collapse
Derived Forms
ruinable, adjective
ruiner, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Old French ruine, from Latin ruīna a falling down, from ruere to fall violently
Word Origin and History for ruin
n.

late 14c., "act of giving way and falling down," from Old French ruine "a collapse" (14c.), and directly from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down" (cf. Spanish ruina, Italian rovina), related to ruere "to rush, fall violently, collapse," from PIE *reue- "to smash, knock down, tear out, dig up" (see rough (adj.)). Meaning "complete destruction of anything" is from 1670s. Ruins "remains of a decayed building or town" is from mid-15c.; the same sense was in the Latin plural noun.

v.

1580s (transitive), from ruin (n.). Intransitive sense "fall into ruin" is from c.1600. Financial sense is attested from 1660. Related: Ruined; ruining.

Idioms and Phrases with ruin

ruin

see: rack and ruin