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Origin and history of ruin

ruin(n.)

late Old English, "act of giving way and falling down" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin ruina "a collapse, a rushing down, a tumbling down" (source also of Old French ruine "a collapse," Spanish ruina, Italian rovina), which is a derivative of ruere "to rush, fall violently, collapse" (from PIE *reue- (2) "to smash, knock down, tear out, dig up;" see rough (adj.)).

The sense of "descent from a state of prosperity, degradation, downfall or decay of a person or society" is from late 14c. The general meaning "violent or complete destruction" (of anything), "a profound change so as to unfit a thing for use" (of one's principles, one's shirt, etc.) is from 17c.

The sense of "that which causes destruction or downfall" is from early 15c. The meaning "dishonor," in reference to a woman, is from 1620s.

Ruins "remains of a decayed building or town" is from mid-15c.; the same sense was in the Latin plural noun.

As in a ruin we it call

One thing to be blown up, or fall;

[Ben Jonson]

ruin(v.)

1580s, "reduce (a place) to ruin," transitive, from ruin (n.) or from French ruiner (14c.). From 1610s as "inflict disaster upon" (someone). The meaning "bring to ruin, damage essentially and irreparably" is by 1650s. The intransitive sense of "fall into ruin" is from c. 1600, now rare or obsolete. The financial sense of "reduce to poverty, wreck the finances of" is attested from 1650s. Related: Ruined; ruining.

also from 1580s

Entries linking to ruin

rough(adj.)

Middle English rough (late 14c.), also rouhe, rouwe, roghe, rugh, etc., from Old English ruh, rug- "not smooth to the touch, coarse (of cloth); hairy, shaggy;" of hides, "undressed, untrimmed;" of ground, "uncultivated." This is from West Germanic *rukhwaz "shaggy, hairy, rough" (source also of Middle Dutch ruuch, Dutch ruig, Old High German ruher, German rauh), from Proto-Germanic *rukhaz, which is perhaps related to the source of Sanskrit ruksah "rough;" Latin ruere "to rush, fall violently, collapse," ruina "a collapse;" Lithuanian raukas "wrinkle," rukti "to shrink."

The original -gh- sound was guttural, as in Scottish loch. The form row was a regular variant from early 16c. and lingered in dialects. Of actions, "characterized by harshness or disparity," c. 1300; of land, terrain, late 15c. as "rugged, hard to traverse." Of stormy weather from mid-14c.; by late 14c. of turbulent seas, rude language, discordant sounds.

From mid-14c. as "crudely made;" c. 1600 as "rudely sufficient, not smooth or formed by art." Rough stone "undressed stone mortared together" is from mid-15c. Of writing or literary style, "lacking refinement, unpolished," 1530s. The sense of "approximate" is recorded from c. 1600.

Rough draft (or draught) is from 1690s. Rough-and-ready "rude and disorderly" is by 1832, from an earlier noun (1810), originally military; rough-and-tumble "not elaborately or carefully ordered" is from a style of free-fighting characterized by indiscriminate blows and falls (1810). Rough music "din produced by banging pots, pans, etc. for the purpose of annoying or punishing a neighbor" is by 1708. Rough-snout (c. 1300) was an old term for "a bearded face."

ruination(n.)

"act of bringing to ruin, state of being brought to ruin," 1660s, noun of action or state from the now rare or obsolete verb ruinate "to go to ruin" (1540s), which is from Medieval Latin ruinatus, past participle of ruinare, from Latin ruina (see ruin (n.)).

ruination is not, like flirtation, floatation, & botheration, a hybrid derivative, being regularly formed from ruinate ; but it now has the effect of a slangy emphatic lengthening of the noun ruin ; this is only because the parent verb ruinate, which was common in serious use 1550-1700, is no longer heard ; but the result is that ruination is better avoided except in facetious contexts. [Fowler, 1926]

ruinous(adj.)

late 14c., "going to ruin, falling to ruin," from Old French ruinos (Modern French ruineux) and directly from Latin ruinosus "tumbling down, going to ruin," from ruina (see ruin (n.)). Meaning "causing ruin, tending to bring ruin" is from mid-15c.; by 1817 specifically as "excessively expensive." Related: Ruinously; ruinousness.

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