Breaking something into pieces or ruining it so completely that it no longer exists or can be used.
From Old French 'destruire,' from Latin 'destruere' (de- 'down' + struere 'to build'), literally meaning 'to un-build.' The sense of 'to ruin' developed from the basic meaning of 'taking apart' or 'demolishing' a structure.
Interestingly, 'destroy' is the opposite of 'construct' or 'structure'—they share the same root 'struere,' so destroying is literally 'de-structuring.' This reveals how language captures the symmetry between building and unbuilding, creation and destruction.
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