. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Ruins at Delphi in Greece
Etymology
From Middle English ruyne , 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 )
( countable , sometimes in the plural ) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
1705 , J[oseph] Addison , Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703 , London: Jacob Tonson , , →OCLC :The Veian and the Gabian towirs shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ruins lay.
a. 1812 , Joseph Stevens Buckminster , sermon :The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
( uncountable ) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
The monastery has fallen into ruin .
( uncountable ) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
Gambling has been the ruin of many.
1625 , Francis [Bacon] , “Of Youth and Age”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC :The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
1920 , Mary Roberts Rinehart , Avery Hopwood , chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241 ), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company , →OCLC , page 01 :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.
The act of ruining something.
( obsolete ) A fall or tumble .
, Homer , “(please specify |book=I to XXIV) ”, in Geo[rge] Chapman , transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. , London: Nathaniell Butter , →OCLC ; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, , new edition, volumes (please specify the book number) , London: Charles Knight and Co. , , 1843 , →OCLC :His ruin startled th’ other steeds.
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
1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison , Cato, a Tragedy. , London: J Tonson , , published 1713 , →OCLC , Act I, scene i, page 2 :Oh Portius , is there not some choſen Curſe, Some hidden Thunder in the Stores of Heav’n, Red with uncommon Wrath, to blaſt the Man Who owes his Greatneſs to his Country’s Ruin ?
1768 , Thomas Gray , The Bard :Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!
( uncountable ) Complete financial loss; bankruptcy .
Derived terms
Translations
remains of destroyed construction
Albanian: gërmadhë (sq) f
Arabic: خَرَاب m ( ḵarāb ) , خَرَابَة f ( ḵarāba ) , طَلَل (ar) m ( ṭalal )
Armenian: ավերակ (hy) ( averak ) , փլատակ (hy) ( pʻlatak )
Asturian: ruina (ast) f
Azerbaijani: xaraba , viranə (az)
Basque: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: руі́на f ( ruína ) , разва́ліна f ( razválina )
Berber:
Tashelhit: iɣrman m pl ( ighrman )
Bulgarian: руи́на (bg) f ( ruína ) , разва́лина (bg) f ( razválina )
Catalan: ruïna (ca)
Chechen: please add this translation if you can
Chinese:
Mandarin: 遺址 / 遗址 (zh) ( yízhǐ ) , 廢墟 / 废墟 (zh) ( fèixū )
Czech: zřícenina (cs) f , ruina (cs) f , rozvalina f
Danish: ruin (da) c
Dutch: ruïne (nl) f , bouwval (nl) m , puinhoop (nl) m
Esperanto: ruino
Estonian: vare
Finnish: raunio (fi)
French: ruine (fr) f
Friulian: ruvine f
Georgian: ნანგრევი ( nangrevi )
German: Ruine (de) f
Greek: ερείπιο (el) n ( ereípio )
Ancient: ἐρείπιον n ( ereípion )
Hebrew: חָרְבָּה (he) f ( khorbá )
Hindi: खँडहर (hi) m ( khãḍhar ) , खंडहर m ( khaṇḍhar ) , भग्नावशेष (hi) m ( bhagnāvśeṣ )
Hungarian: rom (hu) , roncs (hu) , omladék (hu)
Icelandic: rúst f
Indonesian: puing (id)
Ingrian: raunio
Italian: rovina (it) f
Japanese: 廃墟 (ja) ( はいきょ, haikyo ) , 遺跡 (ja) ( いせき, iseki )
Kazakh: құланды ( qūlandy )
Korean: 폐허(廢墟) (ko) ( pyeheo ) , 유적(遺蹟) (ko) ( yujeok )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: شوێنەوار (ckb) ( şwênewar )
Northern Kurdish: kavil (ku) m , wêrane (ku) , xerabe (ku)
Kyrgyz: уранды (ky) ( urandı )
Latin: ruīna f
Latvian: drupas f pl
Lithuanian: griuvėsiai m pl
Macedonian: руше́вина f ( rušévina ) , урна́тина f ( urnátina ) , чавка́рница ( čavkárnica )
Malay: puing , runtuhan (ms)
Maori: ruhatanga
Navajo: kitsʼiilí
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ruin (no) m
Nynorsk: ruin m
Occitan: roïna (oc) f
Ottoman Turkish: خراب ( harab )
Persian: ویرانه (fa) ( virâne ) , خراب (fa) ( xarâb ) , خرابه (fa) ( xarâbe )
Polish: ruina (pl) f
Portuguese: ruína (pt) f
Punjabi: ਖੰਡਰ m ( khaṇḍar ) , ਢਾਠ f ( ḍhāṭh )
Romanian: ruină (ro) f
Romansch: ruina f , ruegna , ruigna
Russian: руи́на (ru) f ( ruína ) , разва́лина (ru) f ( razválina )
Sardinian: arruinu , orroghina f , roghina f
Scottish Gaelic: tobhta f
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: ruševina (sh) f , podor (sh) m , podorina f , razvalina (sh) f , provalina f , razval m , razvala f
Sicilian: ruvina f
Slovak: ruina f , rozvalina f
Slovene: ruševina f
Spanish: ruina (es) f
Swahili: gofu (sw)
Swedish: ruin (sv) c
Tagalog: gapo , bunlag
Tajik: димна ( dimna ) , хароба ( xaroba ) , вайрона ( vayrona )
Tibetan: གྱང་རོ ( gyang ro ) , གཡག་གོག ( g.yag gog )
Turkish: kalıntı (tr) , harabe (tr) , ören (tr) , yıkıntı (tr) , virane (tr)
Turkmen: haraba
Ukrainian: руї́на f ( rujína ) , розва́лина f ( rozvályna )
Urdu: کَھنْڈَر m ( khanḍar ) , کَھنْڈَرَات m pl ( khanḍarāt ) , خَرَابَہ m ( xarāba ) , وِیرانَہ m ( vīrāna )
Uyghur: خارابە ( xarabe )
Uzbek: xaroba (uz)
Venetan: roina f , rovina f , ruina f
Welsh: adfail m
West Frisian: Ruïne
the state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed
Azerbaijani: xarabalıq (az) , viranəlik , pozğunluq (az) , bərbadlıq , xarabazarlıq
Bulgarian: разру́ха (bg) f ( razrúha )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 毀壞 / 毁坏 (zh) ( huǐhuài ) , 毀滅 / 毁灭 (zh) ( huǐmiè )
Dutch: verval (nl) n , puin (nl) n
Finnish: rappio (fi)
French: ruine (fr) f
German: Ruin (de) m
Greek:
Ancient: λοιγός m ( loigós )
Hindi: विनाश (hi) ( vināś ) , नाश (hi) ( nāś )
Hungarian: rom (hu)
Irish: scrios m
Italian: rovina (it) f
Japanese: 潰滅 (ja) ( かいめつ, kaimetsu ) , 崩壊 (ja) ( ほうかい, hōkai )
Latin: ruīna f
Malayalam: നാശം (ml) ( nāśaṁ )
Maori: ruhatanga
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ruin (no) m
Nynorsk: ruin m
Old English: hryre m
Ottoman Turkish: خراب ( harab )
Portuguese: ruína (pt) f
Romanian: ruină (ro) f
Russian: разру́ха (ru) f ( razrúxa )
Sanskrit: नाश (sa) m ( nāśa )
Scottish Gaelic: creach f
Spanish: ruina (es) f
Swedish: ruin (sv) c
Tagalog: pagkagapo
Vietnamese: hư hại (vi)
Welsh: adfeiliad m
something which leads to serious troubles
Verb
ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins , present participle ruining , simple past and past participle ruined or ( dialectal, nonstandard ) ruint )
( transitive ) To cause the fiscal ruin of; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!
To destroy or make something no longer usable .
He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.
To make something less enjoyable or likeable .
I used to love that song, but being assaulted when that song was playing ruined the song for me.
To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil .
( obsolete ) To fall into a state of decay .
1636 , George Sandys , Paraphrase upon the Psalmes and upon the Hymnes dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments :Though he his house of polisht marble build, / Yet shall it ruine like the Moth's fraile cell
( transitive , historical ) To seduce or debauch , and thus harm the social standing of.
The young libertine was notorious for ruining local girls.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
to cause the economical ruin of
Arabic: دَمَّرَ ( dammara )
Armenian: կործանել (hy) ( korcanel )
Azerbaijani: çapmaq
Belarusian: знішча́ць impf ( zniščácʹ ) , ні́шчыць impf ( níščycʹ ) , зні́шчыць pf ( zníščycʹ ) , руйнава́ць impf ( rujnavácʹ ) , зруйнава́ць pf ( zrujnavácʹ )
Bulgarian: унищожа́вам (bg) impf ( uništožávam ) , унищожа́ pf ( uništožá ) , разоря́вам (bg) impf ( razorjávam ) , разоря́ (bg) pf ( razorjá )
Cherokee: ᎠᏲᏍᏙᏗ ( ayosdodi )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 破壞 / 破坏 (zh) ( pòhuài ) , 毀 / 毁 (zh) ( huǐ )
Czech: ruinovat impf , zruinovat (cs) pf
Danish: ruinere
Dutch: ruïneren (nl)
Finnish: raunioittaa , tuhota (fi) , tärvellä (fi) , pilata (fi)
French: ruiner (fr)
Georgian: ნგრევა ( ngreva )
German: ruinieren (de) , auf die Knie zwingen , vernichten (de)
Greek: καταστρέφω (el) ( katastréfo )
Hebrew: דָּפַק (he) ( dafák ) , פישל / פִשֵּׁל ( pishél ) , הָרַס (he) ( harás )
Hungarian: lerombol (hu) , tönkretesz (hu) , romba dönt (hu)
Irish: creach
Japanese: 潰す (ja) ( つぶす, tsubusu ) , 滅ぼす (ja) ( ほろぼす, horobosu ) , 打倒する (ja) ( だとうする, datō suru ) , 破産させる (ja) ( はさんさせる, hasan saseru )
Korean: 붕괴시키다 ( bunggoesikida ) , 무너뜨리다 (ko) ( muneotteurida )
Latgalian: grauduot
Latin: populor
Latvian: graut
Lithuanian: griauti
Macedonian: у́ништи ( úništi )
Maori: whakapōhara
Polish: rujnować (pl) impf , zrujnować (pl) pf
Portuguese: arruinar (pt)
Romanian: strica (ro)
Russian: разруша́ть (ru) impf ( razrušátʹ ) , разру́шить (ru) pf ( razrúšitʹ ) , по́ртить (ru) impf ( pórtitʹ ) , испо́ртить (ru) pf ( ispórtitʹ ) , разоря́ть (ru) impf ( razorjátʹ ) , разори́ть (ru) pf ( razorítʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: creach
Slovak: ruinovať impf , zruinovať pf
Spanish: desbaratar (es) , arruinar (es)
Swedish: ödelägga (sv) , ruinera (sv) ( financially )
Turkish: mahvetmek (tr)
Ukrainian: ни́щити (uk) impf ( nýščyty ) , зни́щувати impf ( znýščuvaty ) , зни́щити pf ( znýščyty ) , руйнува́ти impf ( rujnuváty ) , зруйнува́ти pf ( zrujnuváty )
Walloon: rwiner (wa)
to destroy
Bulgarian: разруша́вам (bg) impf ( razrušávam ) , разруша́ (bg) pf ( razrušá ) , унищожа́вам (bg) impf ( uništožávam ) , унищожа́ pf ( uništožá )
Catalan: espatllar (ca) , arruïnar (ca)
Cherokee: ᎠᏲᏍᏗᎭ ( ayosdiha )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 破壞 / 破坏 (zh) ( pòhuài )
Danish: ødelægge (da)
Finnish: raunioittaa
French: abîmer (fr) , foutre en l’air (fr) ( colloquial ) , ruiner (fr) ( colloquial ) , massacrer (fr)
Galician: arruinar (gl)
German: ruinieren (de) , kaputtmachen (de) , vernichten (de) , zerstören (de)
Greek: καταστρέφω (el) ( katastréfo )
Ingrian: raisata
Italian: rovinare (it)
Japanese: 打ち壊す (ja) ( ぶちこわす, buchikowasu ) , 破壊する (ja) ( はかいする, hakai suru ) , めちゃめちゃにする (ja) ( mechamecha ni suru )
Latin: populor , ruīnō
Macedonian: у́ништи ( úništi )
Malayalam: നശിപ്പിക്കുക ( naśippikkuka )
Maori: whakapakaru
Occitan: arroïnar (oc)
Ottoman Turkish: بوزمق ( bozmak ) , ییقمق ( yıkmak )
Portuguese: arruinar (pt)
Russian: уничтожа́ть (ru) impf ( uničtožátʹ ) , уничто́жить (ru) pf ( uničtóžitʹ ) , разруша́ть (ru) impf ( razrušátʹ ) , разру́шить (ru) pf ( razrúšitʹ )
Spanish: ruinar (es) , arruinar (es) , estropear (es)
Turkish: mahvetmek (tr)
to spoil
Bulgarian: разва́лям (bg) impf ( razváljam ) , разваля́ (bg) pf ( razvaljá )
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: pilata (fi)
French: gâcher (fr) , foutre en l’air (fr) ( colloquial ) , plomber (fr) , ruiner (fr)
Galician: arruinar (gl) , esbandallar (gl)
Georgian: გაფუჭება (ka) ( gapuč̣eba )
German: ruinieren (de) , verderben (de) , kaputtmachen (de)
Gothic: 𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( riurjan )
Greek:
Ancient Greek: φθείρω ( phtheírō )
Japanese: 潰す (ja) ( つぶす, tsubusu ) , だめにする (ja) ( dame ni suru ) , めちゃめちゃにする (ja) ( mechamecha ni suru )
Macedonian: упро́пасти ( uprópasti )
Malayalam: നശിപ്പിക്കുക ( naśippikkuka )
North Frisian: ( Mooring ) ferdiirwe
Ottoman Turkish: بوزمق ( bozmak )
Portuguese: arruinar (pt) , destruir (pt) , acabar com
Russian: по́ртить (ru) impf ( pórtitʹ ) , испортить (ru) pf ( isportitʹ )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: упропастити pf
Roman: upropastiti (sh) pf
Spanish: dar al traste
Turkish: mahvetmek (tr)
Further reading
“ruin ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“ruin ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
“ruin ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .
Anagrams
Asturian
Pronunciation
Adjective
ruin m sg (feminine singular ruina , neuter singular ruino , masculine plural ruinos , feminine plural ruines )
weedy
Dutch
Etymology
From Middle Dutch rûun . Cognate with Middle Low German rûne , Middle High German rūn . Further origin unknown; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(H)rewH- ( “ to dig out, rip off ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
ruin m (plural ruinen , diminutive ruintje n )
gelding ( castrated male horse )
Derived terms
See also
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin ruina .
Noun
ruin m (definite singular ruinen , indefinite plural ruiner , definite plural ruinene )
ruin ( often in plural form when referring to buildings )
References
“ruin” in The Bokmål Dictionary .
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin ruina .
Noun
ruin m (definite singular ruinen , indefinite plural ruinar , definite plural ruinane )
ruin ( often in plural form when referring to buildings )
References
“ruin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary .
Spanish
Etymology
From an earlier *ruino , from ruina , or from a Vulgar Latin root *ruīnus , ultimately from Latin ruīna . Compare Portuguese ruim , Catalan roí . The lack of a final /-o/ may suggest a borrowing.
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈrwin/
Rhymes: -in
Syllabification: ruin
Adjective
ruin m or f (masculine and feminine plural ruines )
contemptible , mean , heartless
Synonyms: vil , despreciable
mean , stingy
Synonyms: avaro , mezquino , tacaño , usurero , agarrado , cicatero
wild ; unruly
Synonyms: salvaje , agresto
rachitic
Synonym: raquítico
Derived terms
Further reading
Swedish
Noun
ruin c
a ruin (remains of a building)
ruin (financial bankruptcy)
Declension
Derived terms
References
Anagrams
Tetum
Etymology
From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *duRi ( “ thorn, splinter, fish bone ” ) , akin to Agutaynen doli and Malay duri ( “ thorn ” ) .
Noun
ruin
bone