The complete destruction or collapse of something; to destroy or damage something so badly it can't be fixed.
From Old French 'ruine,' derived from Latin 'ruina' meaning 'a falling down.' The word originally referred to physical collapse of structures and evolved to include the destruction of fortunes, reputations, and anything valuable.
Roman engineers were obsessed with ruins—so much so that the word became synonymous with the crumbling remains of great civilizations. Today when we see ancient ruins, we're literally looking at the visual definition of this word frozen in stone.
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