French word

ruine

Pronunciation

IPA/ʁɥin/

Meaning

  • feminine nounruins

Example

Les ruines du château sont impressionnantes.

The castle ruins are impressive.

Illustration for ruine (ruins)

More examples

Après l'incendie, la maison est devenue une ruine.

After the fire, the house became a ruin.

Core concept

A once usable building reduced to broken walls, fallen materials, and open space.

Common phrases

  • les ruines du château

    the castle ruins

  • ruines antiques

    ancient ruins

  • château en ruines

    ruined castle

Similar words

décombres: Large broken pieces left by a collapsed building.
débris: Scattered small fragments left after something breaks apart.
restes: The surviving remains or wreckage of something that once existed.
épave: A damaged, unusable vehicle or vessel left as wreckage.

Definition in French

État d'un bâtiment qui s'est effondré ou gravement détérioré ; par extension, lieu constitué de ces décombres ou situation de destruction totale.

Word origin

French ruine comes through Old French from Latin ruina, 'a collapse', formed from ruere, 'to fall or rush down'.

Usage tips

  • Ruine is feminine, so the singular form takes la or une, while plural ruines commonly refers to the surviving remains of a building.

Other meanings

  • remainsnoun
  • downfallnoun

Opposites

Related words

  • ruinerruinverb
  • ruinéruinedadjective

Word lists with this word