Ruination is the bringing of something to complete ruin. The ruination of the estate, financial ruination, ruination of a career.
It is heavier and more old-fashioned than ruin and is used with a certain relish, since ruination sounds like something narrated rather than suffered. It names the process as much as the result.
1nounruinationThe bringing of something to complete ruin.
“The long drought brought ruination to the farming families of the valley.”
ruination is a destroying.
Latin
ruīna — overthrow, ruin
Old French
ruine
Middle English
ruyne
English
ruin
English, today
ruination
Built from
From ruin + -ation. ruin comes from Middle English ruyne, ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ruīna (“overthrow, ruin”), from ruō (“to fall down, tumble, sink in ruin, rush”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA