# ruin
## English
### 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

* (UK, US) IPA: /ˈɹuː.ɪn/, [ˈɹuwɪn]
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -uːɪn

### 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.
** 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC: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.
** 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Eden Prime:Dr. Manuel: No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain.
* (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.
** [1611?], 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, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:His ruin startled th’ other steeds.The spelling has been modernized.
* 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[acob] 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

* blue ruin
* gambler's ruin
* mother's ruin
* rack and ruin
* ruin of the year
* ruin pub
* ruin-restoration creationism
* ruin theory
* ruin value
* wrack and ruin

#### Translations
### 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!
** 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC: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...
* To destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
    He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
** 1857, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Mile-Stone:By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeing ruined cities in the ashes.
* 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

* destroy
* fordo
* ruinate
* wreck
* See also Thesaurus:spoil

#### Antonyms

* build
* construct
* found
* produce
* unruin

#### Related terms

* ruination
* ruinable
* ruiner
* ruinous
* ruint

#### Translations
### 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

* Irun

## Asturian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈrwin/ [ˈrwĩŋ]

### 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

* IPA: /rœy̯n/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ruin
* Rhymes: -œy̯n

### Noun

ruin m (plural ruinen, diminutive ruintje n)
* gelding (castrated male horse)

#### Derived terms

* vosruin

### See also

* hengst

## 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: /ˈrwin/ [ˈrwĩn]
* 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
** 1881, Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Ismael‎, section 46:un pequeño grupo de ovejas ruines e inútiles para la marcha(please add an English translation of this quotation)

#### Derived terms

* ruin señor cría ruin servidor

### Further reading

* “ruin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Swedish
### Noun

ruin c
* a ruin (remains of a building)
* ruin (financial bankruptcy)

#### Declension

| | | nominative | genitive |
| singular | indefinite | ruin | ruins |
| singular | definite | ruinen | ruinens |
| plural | indefinite | ruiner | ruiners |
| plural | definite | ruinerna | ruinernas |

#### Derived terms

* borgruin
* klosterruin
* kyrkoruin
* ruinfält
* ruinhög
* ruinspel
* ruinstad
* slottsruin
* stå på ruinens brant (“stand on the brink of ruin”)

#### Related terms

* ruinera

### References

* ruin in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* ruin in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* ruin in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
* ruin in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

### Anagrams

* urin

## Tetum
### Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *duRi (“thorn, splinter, fish bone”), akin to Agutaynen doli and Malay duri (“thorn”).

### Noun

ruin
* bone