[ru.in] n [ME ruine, fr. MF, fr. L ruina, fr. ruere to rush headlong, fall, collapse] (12c) 1 a archaic: a falling down: collapse "from age to age ... the crash of ~ fitfully resounds --William Wordsworth" b: physical, moral, economic, or social collapse
2. a: the state of being ruined--archaic except in pl. "the city lay in ~s" b: the remains of something destroyed--usu. used in pl. "the ~s of an ancient temple" "the ~s of his life"
3: a cause of destruction
4. a: the action of destroying, laying waste, or wrecking b: damage, injury
5: a ruined building, person, or object -- ru.in.ate adj -- ruinate vt
[2]ruin vt (1585) 1: to reduce to ruins: devastate
2. a: to damage irreparably b: bankrupt, impoverish "~ed by stock speculation"
3: to subject to frustration, failure, or disaster "will ~ your chances of promotion" ~ vi: to become ruined -- ru.in.er n