ruinateadj.n.
/ˈruːᵻnət/, /ˈruːᵻneɪt/, U.S. /ˈruənət/, /ˈruəˌneɪt/ A. adj.† 2. Irreparably damaged or spoilt; brought low. Obsolete.
1. Of a building, town, etc.: in a state of decay, collapse, or disintegration. Now rare.
a. In predicative use. Originally as past participle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > [adjective] > dilapidated or ruinous
brychec1000
forcrazedc1320
falling-downc1384
ruinousc1384
forwordenc1450
ruin1467
failed1490
ruinatea1538
ruinated1555
ruined1560
ragged1565
dilapidate1590
through-shot1596
tattered1599
tottered1615
dilapidateda1806
delabrated1813
broken-down1816
tumble-down1819
run-down1832
tumblyc1855
raggedy1921
shot through1926
shot to hell or pieces1926
raddled1949
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 47 Our cytes castellys & townys of late days ruynate & fallen downe.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 151v They found there, the foundations of certeyne owlde towres ruinate.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. x. sig. V7v That same citie, so now ruinate, Had bene the keye of all that kingdomes crowne. View more context for this quotation
1627 J. Speed Eng. Abridged xxv. §9 Castles for defence built in this County, ruinate or in strength.
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) i. 9 They who travail from Mosco to the Caspian, go..by certain Castles to Rezan, a famous City now ruinate.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 60/2 Those sacred Structures are now ruinate.
1778 Hist. Cheshire II. 695 In the demesne of Dutton is also another chapel of Ease, called Poosey-Chapel,..but is now ruinate and in decay.
1868 C. Kingsley Hermits 324 The place is all ruinate now; the memory of St. Godric gone.
1901 ‘L. Malet’ Hist. Richard Calmady v. i The house..had become rather dilapidated and ruinate.
b. In attributive use.
ΚΠ
1555 R. Eden tr. S. von Herberstein Rerum moscouiticarum commentarii in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 297v They, passynge ouer Tanais abowt the owlde and ruinate towne of Donco, doo sumwhat turne from the south to the Easte.
1596 J. Harington New Disc. Aiax sig. F4v I would not doubt, of a ruinate church to make a reuerent churche.
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον iii. 128 He came to a certain ruinate cottage, where he desired bread and water.
1649 J. Ellistone tr. J. Böhme Epist. iv. iii. 48 The time is at hand..that the ruinate Jerusalem shall againe be built up.
1732 J. Coker Surv. Dorsetshire 96 The River, passeing by Hollwell, leaveth on the Hill over it Wake Courte, now a ruinate Place.
1791 E. Inchbald Simple Story III. vi. 68 The dreary, ruinate place where her deceased mother had chosen her residence.
1896 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly July 81/1 The cathedral is within the walls of the equally ruinate castle, a picturesque and storied pile of great age.
2004 Gleaner (Jamaica) (Nexis) 20 Dec. Do you stop on the way to Spanish Town to admire that beautiful ruinate cast-iron bridge?
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective]
fellc1330
undone1340
ruinous?a1439
violablea1470
perniciousc1475
destructive1490
confusible1502
destroying1535
exitiable1548
ruinate1562
peremptory1567
wrackful1578
slaughterous1582
ruinating1595
ruining1605
corrumpent1607
wracksome1608
in suds1611
destructory1614
poisonousa1616
wrakefulc1625
predatory1626
predatorious1641
demolishing1648
untwined1649
undoing1654
destructionable1656
destructful1659
mortal1670
wreckinga1677
fatal1692
quadrumanous1704
interdestructive1805
annihilatory1825
demolitionary1834
ruinatious1845
consumptive1860
thunderous1874
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adjective] > falling from prosperous or thriving condition > having fallen
forlornc1386
fallen1550
ruinous1558
ruinate1562
declined1591
ruinated1592
ruined1596
lapsed1667
prolapsed1698
broken-down1816
decadent1837
1562 J. Shute tr. in Two Comm. Turcks ii. f. 30 I hope that the Turcke shalbe vtterly ruynate, and chased oute of his dominiones.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 1040 Government of state Will without wisedome soone be ruinate.
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. viii. vii. 285 The militarie discipline which this day by thy default is fallen down and ruinate.
1603 S. Harsnett Declar. Popish Impostures 12 One Edward Peckham.., one of a very Ruinate estate.
1637 C. Gardiner in T. Morton New Eng. Canaan 8 Plotting mischeife, gainst the innocent, Burning their houses, as if ordained by fate, In spight of Lawe, to be made ruinate.
1646 in L. B. Taylor Aberdeen Council Lett. (1952) III. 61 The poor rewinat brughe and inhabitantes thairoff.
1766 A. Nicol Poems Several Subj. 223 The devil pleads by law, that I Be justly ruinate; But Christ is always standing by, My stronger advocate.
1868 C. Kingsley in Good Words Dec. 732 The whole character [had] been warped and ruinate from childhood.
1871 C. Kingsley At Last II. xvi. 287 A system which..was ruinate before emancipation.
3. Chiefly Jamaican. Of land: exhausted and allowed to revert to the wild.
ΚΠ
1835 B. M. Senior Jamaica 54 Lands termed ‘ruinate’, which means such as have been used till worn out, and then allowed to grow up in bushes and weeds.
1912 G. B. Longstaff Butterfly-hunting vi. 266 This creeper now covers the hedges in Jamaica, and invades the ruinate lands, making a strong fight of it with the indigenous bind-weeds.
1976 D. Lack Island Biol. ii. 25 Arid ruinate woodland covers large areas of the hills of the southern Jamaican lowlands.
2002 K. E. A. Monteith in V. A. Shepherd Working Slavery ii. vi. 125 Cultivation was periodically shifted to virgin soil, leaving behind tracts of ruinate land.
B. n.
Chiefly Jamaican. Formerly cultivated land which has reverted to the wild; a tract of such land. Cf. sense A. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > made waste
spoil1609
waste1611
ruinate1774
wastage1823
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica I. ii. ii. 423 A tax of 1s. per acre, on all patented, and uncleared, or unsettled woodlands, or ruinate.
1808 J. Stewart Acct. Jamaica ix. 117 Pastures shaded with lofty trees, plantain walks, ruinates, and extensive fields of sugar-canes, chequer and adorn the face of the country.
1835 B. M. Senior Jamaica 55 In three or four years after the ruinate is cleared up, the pimento begins to bear.
1894 R. T. Banbury Jamaica Superstit. 30 We would advise parents never to allow their little ones to wander about near woods, or ruinates by themselves.
1926 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 24 Nov. 8/2 They were allowed to cultivate only ruinates and open lands which were not capable of producing enough crops.
1977 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 15 Aug. 2/8 About 2½ acres of fully grown ganja plants..were destroyed in an early morning raid carried out in the ruinates of Belvedere, Portland.
1998 W. W. Walters in E. Barkan & M.-D. Shelton Border, Exiles, Diasporas xiii. 222 Ruinate and bush are controlled and ordered not only by colonizers but by the colonized as well.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
ruinatev.
/ˈruːᵻneɪt/, U.S. /ˈruəˌneɪt/ 1. transitive. To reduce (a person) to a state of complete poverty; to deprive of moral or social standing. Also reflexive. Cf. ruin v. 2. Now frequently regional.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > make poor or impoverish [verb (transitive)]
destroy1297
poverisha1382
apoora1400
impover1418
poora1425
dispurveyc1430
impoverish1440
beggar1528
weaken1530
ruinate1547
ruin1560
depauper1562
depoverish1569
craze1573
soak1577
sift1591
waste1599
impoor1613
uncluea1616
depauperate1623
disenrich1647
necessitate1647
erumnate1676
straiten1699
poorify1711
pauperize1806
pauperate1839
pauper1841
to clear out1884
immiserate1956
penny-pincha1961
immiserize1971
the mind > possession > poverty > impoverish oneself [verb (reflexive)]
ruinate1547
ruin1585
waste1599
worsen1828
worser1851
1547 J. Harrison Exhort. Scottes h ij What folye, or rather what fury is this, thus to ruynate your selfes.
1561 P. Melanchthon Famous & Godly Hist. Three Reformers sig. L.ii He neuer receiued torment yt coulde deface, much les ruinate him, he had no other then Christ in his hart.
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum i. xiv. 16 The rest conspiring together would soone be master ouer them, and ruinate them wholly.
1584 Copie of Let. conc. Erle of Leycester 86 You shal skarce finde a man that..feeleth not the smart therof: being either impouerished, beggered, or ruinated therby.
1600 E. Fairfax tr. T. Tasso Godfrey of Bulloigne iii. lxiii. 52 My proud foe that quite hath ruinate My high estate, and Antioch opprest, I see not.
1640 W. Habington Hist. Edward IV 118 To desire the Commonaltie to contribute with their purses that many of his best friends might not be ruinated.
a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. iii. 395 Hee deposed Kinges and disposed the kingdome till hee ruinated himsealfe.
1674 Plymouth Col. Rec. (1857) VII. 189 The said Barker hath said and threatened that hee would ruinate them.
1684 N. Crouch Delights for Ingenious xlviii. 196 In it self it [sc. the flesh] always carries that, Which helpeth so it self to ruinate.
1705 N. Rowe Biter ii. 34 Oh law!—I am ruinated and undone—there is my own Husband.
1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl VI. iv. 157 Mastur said, as he wud be ruinated, so left him at boarding school hard-by.
1819 ‘R. Rabelais’ Abeillard & Heloisa 172 She was indeed thus ruinated.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 18 Feb. 394/2 It wasn't their faults..if I warn't made bad and ruinated.
1888 L. M. Elwyn Dot i. 8 Dat chap's hangin' round heah for no good, an' he's gwine ter stay till he ruinates dis family, less somebody scoots him home 'bout his business.
1934 W. W. Gill Manx Dial. ii. 99 Thou'll have me ruinated with waste an' high livin'.
1996 Columbian (Vancouver, Washington) (Nexis) 14 Aug. b7 Why should there be a hotel tax at all? This country is going to be ruinated by taxation.
a. transitive. To reduce (a building, town, etc.) to ruins. Also in figurative contexts. Also occasionally intransitive. Cf. ruin v. 1b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > break down, demolish, or ruin
spillc950
fellOE
to cast downc1230
destroy1297
to turn up?c1335
to throw down1340
to ding downc1380
to break downa1382
subverta1382
underturn1382
to take downc1384
falla1400
to make (a building, etc.) plain (with the earth)a1400
voida1400
brittenc1400
to burst downc1440
to pull downc1450
pluck1481
tumble1487
wreck1510
defacea1513
confound1523
raze1523
arase1530
to beat downc1540
ruinate1548
demolish1560
plane1562
to shovel down1563
race?1567
ruin1585
rape1597
unwall1598
to bluster down16..
raise1603
level1614
debolish1615
unbuilda1616
to make smooth work of1616
slight1640
to knock down1776
squabash1822
collapse1883
to turn over1897
mash1924
rubble1945
to take apart1978
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. cclviii It was determined..vtterly to ruinate and destroy the saied toune with fire.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1842/2 The armie marched towarde a fayre proper house..which was blown vp with powdere and vtterly ruynated.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 v. i. 86 I will not ruinate my fathers house, Who gaue his bloud to lime the stones togither.
1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 52 The Hart, the Lunges,..In region of the Brest, doe hold their States, Whose Bulke them Bulwarkes from what ruynates.
1616 J. Hayward Sanctuarie Troubled Soule (1620) ii. ix. 227 Experience teacheth vs, that it is more easie to ruinate, then to repaire.
a1625 J. Boys Wks. (1629) 264 The Deuil ruinates every tenement in which he dwells.
a1670 J. Hacket Cent. Serm. (1675) 549 You ruinate the whole tower of Faith, and demolish it to nothing.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Archit. Pref. 4 Cities which..have fallen..into the Power of new Masters, who..ruinated them.
1792 Gloucester Guide 62 The Monument of the said Robert Wise..being defaced and ruinated by the dissolving and taking down of the Parish Church of St. Ewens.
1818 G. S. Faber Horæ Mosaicæ (ed. 2) I. 164 The professed iconoclast Xerxes..ruinated or rather defaced the edifice itself.
b. intransitive. To fall into ruins; to crumble, collapse, esp. with a crash. Frequently figurative. Cf. ruin v. 1a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > condition of matter > bad condition of matter > deteriorate in condition [verb (intransitive)] > be dilapidated or ruined > fall into ruins
to-reosea900
fallOE
tumblea1400
ruinate1562
lapse1620
dilapidate1712
fail1776
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > falling > fall [verb (intransitive)] > with a crash
ruinate1562
ruin1793
1562 P. Whitehorne tr. N. Machiavelli Arte of Warre i. f. ix If a king take not order in suche wise,..it will follow of necessitie, that he ruinate.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Z7v On thother side, they saw that perilous Rocke, Threatning it selfe on them to ruinate.
1599 T. M. Micro-cynicon iii. sig. C But former peacock pride..on tiptoe stands, well: what of that? It is more prompt to fall and ruinate.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 186 Neither stormes, nor tempests, nor any assaults shall ever cause thy building to ruinate.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 48/1 The Wall..is more apt to ruinate in this part than in any other.
1853 S. H. Cox Interviews Mem. & Useful 115 We see others ruinating for want of our incomparable system of constitutional government.
3. transitive. To cause great and usually irreparable damage to (something). Cf. ruin v. 3a Now chiefly archaic and regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devastate or lay waste (a place, etc.)
harryc893
fordoc900
awesteeOE
westeeOE
losec950
harrowc1000
destroyc1230
wastec1275
ravishc1325
to lie waste1338
exilea1382
to-wastea1382
unronea1400
desolatea1425
vast1434
fruster?a1513
to lay waste1535
wipe1535
devast1537
depopulate1548
populate1552
forwaste1563
ruinate1564
havoc1575
scourge1576
dispopulate1588
destitute1593
ravage1602
harassa1618
devastate1638
execute1679
to make stroy of1682
to lay in ashes1711
untown1783
hell-rake1830
uncity1850
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)]
mareOE
shendOE
hinderc1000
amarOE
awemc1275
noyc1300
touchc1300
bleche1340
blemisha1375
spill1377
misdoa1387
grieve1390
damagea1400
despoil?a1400
matea1400
snapea1400
mankc1400
overthrowa1425
tamec1430
undermine1430
blunder1440
depaira1460
adommage?1473
endamage1477
prejudicec1487
fulyie1488
martyra1500
dyscrase?1504
corrupt1526
mangle1534
danger1538
destroy1542
spoil1563
ruinate1564
ruin1567
wrake1570
injury1579
bane1587
massacre1589
ravish1594
wrong1595
rifle1604
tainta1616
mutilea1618
to do violence toa1625
flaw1665
stun1676
quail1682
maul1694
moil1698
damnify1712
margullie1721
maul1782
buga1790
mux1806
queer1818
batter1840
puckeroo1840
rim-rack1841
pretty1868
garbage1899
savage1899
to do in1905
strafe1915
mash1924
blow1943
nuke1967
mung1969
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Feuer Pestilence (new ed.) sig. Niiiiv So for synne the bodie is ruinated, and shalbe in dust, vntill the resurrection.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxiii. 22 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 71 Such as seeke my life to ruinate.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. 404 A strange and unknowne kind of people.., readie to ruinate and destroy all before them.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy Democritus to Rdr. 25 Men alwaies ruinating thereby the health of their bodies.
1693 R. Morden Geogr. Rectified (ed. 3) 129 This Countrey (before those unhappy Wars..whereby it was much ruinated) was accounted the most fruitful and pleasant of all Germany.
1740 New Hist. Jamaica 221 Any Person may ruinate and destroy any Plantation deserted for the Space of 2 Months.
1781 E. Craven Miniature Picture iii. 60 It will spoil the hone-suckles at the top, and parfitly drown and ruinate the bottom.
1836 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 1st Ser. xii. 66 I guess they'll ruinate the crops yet.
1873 C. M. Yonge Pillars of House I. xxiii. 317 Ye've ruinated the young gentleman's purty blue umbrella!
1901 E. G. Hayden Trav. round Village 45 The flood ruinated a smart deal o' the furnitoor.
1922 E. R. Eddison Worm Ouroboros xviii. 253 If I do not..remedy for you our fortunes which this bloody fool hath laboured to ruinate, spit in my face.
1935 G. Barker Poems 55 Time, though slowly, ruinates Love, with which it arbitrates.
1956 ‘R. Macdonald’ Barbarous Coast (1988) vi. 38 So he had to ruinate it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > overthrow or overturn > a kingdom, state, etc.
ruinate1565
ruin1585
1565 in Cal. State Papers Scotl. (1900) II. 224 For be the quenis majesteis cald dealing heirin, ane great part of my freyndis ar rewynat.
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 388 There is to be found a M. Hagbuts within your house to ruinat this Realme.
1610 A. Willet Hexapla in Danielem 64 Alexander the great, who ruinated the Persian monarchie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus (1623) v. iii. 203 Then afterwards, to Order well the State, That like Euents, may ne're it Ruinate.
1641 R. Carpenter Experience, Hist., & Divinitie v. vii. 244 For the safety of your poore Country: which..you take paines to ruinate.
a. transitive. With an institution, practice, etc., as object. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to
undoc950
shendOE
forfarea1000
endc1000
to do awayOE
aquenchc1175
slayc1175
slayc1175
stathea1200
tinea1300
to-spilla1300
batec1300
bleschea1325
honisha1325
leesea1325
wastec1325
stanch1338
corrumpa1340
destroy1340
to put awayc1350
dissolvec1374
supplanta1382
to-shend1382
aneantizec1384
avoidc1384
to put outa1398
beshenda1400
swelta1400
amortizec1405
distract1413
consumec1425
shelfc1425
abroge1427
downthringc1430
kill1435
poisonc1450
defeat1474
perish1509
to blow away1523
abrogatea1529
to prick (also turn, pitch) over the perka1529
dash?1529
to bring (also send) to (the) pot1531
put in the pot1531
wipea1538
extermine1539
fatec1540
peppera1550
disappoint1563
to put (also set) beside the saddle1563
to cut the throat of1565
to throw (also turn, etc.) over the perch1568
to make a hand of (also on, with)1569
demolish1570
to break the neck of1576
to make shipwreck of1577
spoil1578
to knock on (in) the head (also rarely at head)1579
cipher1589
ruinate1590
to cut off by the shins1592
shipwreck1599
exterminate1605
finish1611
damnify1612
ravel1614
braina1616
stagger1629
unrivet1630
consummate1634
pulverizea1640
baffle1649
devil1652
to blow up1660
feague1668
shatter1683
cook1708
to die away1748
to prove fatal (to)1759
to knock up1764
to knock (or kick) the hindsight out or off1834
to put the kibosh on1834
to cook (rarely do) one's goose1835
kibosh1841
to chaw up1843
cooper1851
to jack up1870
scuttle1888
to bugger up1891
jigger1895
torpedo1895
on the fritz1900
to put paid to1901
rot1908
down and out1916
scuppera1918
to put the skids under1918
stonker1919
liquidate1924
to screw up1933
cruel1934
to dig the grave of1934
pox1935
blow1936
to hit for six1937
to piss up1937
to dust off1938
zap1976
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > overthrow or overturn
to-warpc888
overwarpeOE
fallOE
cumber1303
overthrowc1375
overturna1382
subverta1382
overwalta1400
sinka1400
to wend downa1400
tuyrec1400
reverse1402
tirvec1420
pervert?a1425
to put downa1425
cumrayc1425
downthringc1430
overthwart?a1439
thringc1480
subvertise1484
succumb1490
renverse1521
precipitate?1528
everta1538
wrake1570
ruinate1590
profligate1643
wreck1749
1590 H. Swinburne Briefe Treat. Test. & Willes i. f. 27 Without whose ministery christianity would quickly be ruinated and subuerted.
1604 S. Hieron Answer Popish Rime in Wks. (1620) I. 576 Truth they haue sought to propagate, And heresies to ruinate.
1607 T. Rogers Faith, Doctr., & Relig. Pref. sig. ¶¶¶1v They ruinate, and at one blowe beate downe all Times, and daies by iust authoritie destined to religious and holy vses.
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie (1636) i. iii. 180 These Churches not ruinating anie fundamentall Article of saving truth.
b. transitive. With a project, design, hope, etc., as object. Cf. ruin v. 3b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > overthrow or overturn > a project, design, hope, etc.
ruinate1595
blast1639
1595 S. Daniel First Fowre Bks. Ciuile Warres iv. xxxi. sig. V Now at this time t' attempt to ruinate So glorious great disseignes.
1639 S. Du Verger tr. J.-P. Camus Admirable Events 339 It had been the way wholy to ruinate his project if hee had vexed this man.
1695 Ld. Preston tr. Boethius Of Consol. Philos. iv. 178 The great Hopes and subtle Machinations of ill Men are by a sudden and unforeseen End ruinated and destroyed.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.a1538v.1547