English → Latin
“ruin” in Latin
ruīnaa falling down, collapse, ruin, destruction; ruins, debris; ruins, debrisexcidiumdemolition, destruction (especially military), ruin; massacre, slaughter, killingintereōto go among, become lost in; to disappear, vanish; to be ruined, undoneperniciēsruin, destruction; disaster, calamity; bane, pestnaufragiumshipwreck; stormoccāsussetting (of the sun etc.); westfragmentuma piece (broken off), remnant, fragmentreliquiaeremains; relics; remnants; remainders; leftovers of a mealrūduslump (especially of copper or bronze); tile; debris, rubblevestīgiumfootprint, track; trace, vestige, mark, sign; sole of the foot
The English word ruin itself goes back to Latin ruō, through ruīna.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ruin s.
Destruction, ruina; excidium (PROP. and figuratively): interitus: pernicies: naufragium: occasus. (The words are found in this connection and order.) occasus interitusque (figuratively). To avert ruin, perniciem depellere: to plan anybody’s ruin, alicui perniciem struere, parare, moliri. To come to ruin, perire, interire [SYN. and PHR. in DESTRUCTION].
Ruins, fragmenta, -orum (broken pieces, fragments): reliquiae (remnants; e.g., of a wreck): naufragia, -orum (PROP., the remnants of a wreck; but figuratively, of persons or things, as we say, ruins): ruinae (of a building, city, etc.; Liv.; ☞ not in Cic.): rudera, -um (walls, etc., broken into small fragments post-Augustan): vestigia, -orum (the site of a ruined town, etc.): parietinae (dilapidated walls; e.g., Corinthi, Cic., Tusc., 3, 22, 53, Orelli). The smoking ruins of Thebes, fumantes Thebarum ruinae. A town deserted and nearly in ruins, urbs deserta et strata prope ruinis: to fall to ruins, frangi; ruinis collabi: to be buried under the ruins of a house, ruina aedium opprimi; or, if followed by death, oppressum interire. Here on one spot the ruins of so many cities lie before us, uno loco tot oppidorum cadavera projecta jacent (Serv. Sulpic., Cic., Fam., 4, 5, 4; perhaps too far-fetched for prose).
ruin v.
To demolish, to destroy, Vid:
To injure greatly, perdere: pessumdare: ad interitum vocare: praecipitare (stronger term): conficere (entirely, altogether; e.g., a part of the citizens by imposts, partem plebis tributo): trucidare (litterally, to kill; e.g., by high interest, fenore): profligare (to subvert; also of health, etc.). (The words are found in this connection and order.) affligere et perdere: affligere et prosternere: prosternere affligereque: affligere et profligare (all = funditus perdere or evertere; i. e., to ruin completely): To try to ruin anybody, alicujus interitum quaerere.
To impoverish, aliquem ad paupertatem protrahere: ad inopiam redigere: ad famam rejicere (stronger term). To ruin one’s self entirely, se detrudere in mendicitatem.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ruin?
- The usual Latin words for “ruin” are ruīna, excidium, intereō; also perniciēs, naufragium, occāsus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.