ruination

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English ruin

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Indo-European *-Hō

Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō

Proto-Italic *-tiō

Latin -tiō

Latin -ātiōlbor.

Old French -ationbor.

Middle English -acioun

English -ation

English ruination

From ruin + -ation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɹuː.ɪˈneɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

ruination (countable and uncountable, plural ruinations)

1. The state of being ruined, a state of devastation or destruction.
   • 2022 January 12, Dr. Joseph Brennan, “Castles: ruined and redeemed by rail”, in RAIL, number 948, page 56:

     As our tour has shown, the state of ruination of castle sites was a key factor in their fate when the railways came through.

2. The act of ruining or wrecking.
3. The cause of being ruined, destroyed or lost.
4. A loss of reputation.
   • 2020 April 12, Simon Tisdall, “US's global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump's coronavirus response”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Yet also thanks largely to Trump, a parallel disaster is unfolding across the world: the ruination of America’s reputation as a safe, trustworthy, competent international leader and partner.

Synonyms

• (act of ruining): destruction, wrecking

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “act of ruining”): foundation, construction, building

Related terms

• ruin
• ruinate
• ruining

Translations

state of being ruined

• Bulgarian: разруха (bg) f (razruha)
• French: ruination (fr)
• German: Verderben (de)
• Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (qisteins), 𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍂𐌴𐌹 f (riurei)
• Italian: rovina (it)
• Japanese: 破綻 (ja) (hatan), 破産 (ja) (hasan), 潰滅 (ja) (kaimetsu)
• Portuguese: ruína (pt)
• Scots: ruination
• Spanish: ruina (es)

act of ruining

• Bulgarian: разрушаване (bg) n (razrušavane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 破壞 / 破坏 (zh) (pòhuài)

• French: ruination (fr)
• German: Vernichtung (de), Verderben (de)
• Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 f (qisteins)
• Italian: rovina (it)
• Japanese: 破壊 (ja) (hakai), 破棄 (ja) (haki), 打倒 (ja) (datō), 打ち壊し (buchikowashi)
• Māori: whakapakarutanga
• Portuguese: ruína (pt)
• Scots: ruination
• Spanish: ruina (es)

References

• “ruination”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• urination