different between fall vs ruin

English

Etymology 1

Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallan? (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)p?l-.

Cognate with West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Low German fallen (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German fallen (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla (“to fall”), Icelandic falla (“to fall”), Albanian fal (“forgive, pray, salute, greet”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to attack, rush”).

Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ?efeall (“a falling, fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fall?, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)p?l-. Cognate with Dutch val, German Fall, Swedish fall, Icelandic fall.

Sense of "autumn" is by 1660s England as a shortening of Middle English fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fôl, IPA^(key): /f??l/
• (General American) enPR: fôl, IPA^(key): /f?l/
• (cot–caught merger) enPR: fäl, IPA^(key): /f?l/
• Rhymes: -??l

Verb

fall (third-person singular simple present falls, present participle falling, simple past fell or (in archaic sense only) felled, past participle fallen or (in archaic sense only) felled)

1. (heading, intransitive) To be moved downwards.
   1. To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

      • There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

   2. To come down, to drop or descend.
      • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch.1:

        Her eyes fell on the table, and she advanced into the room wiping her hands on her apron.

   3. To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.

   4. To be brought to the ground.
2. (transitive) To move downwards.
   1. (obsolete) To let fall; to drop.
   2. (obsolete) To sink; to depress.

   3. (Britain, US, dialect, archaic) To fell; to cut down.

3. (intransitive) To happen, to change negatively.
   1. (copulative, in idiomatic expressions) To become.

      • At length they stood at the corner from which they had begun, and it had fallen quite dark, and they were no wiser.

   3. To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); said of an instance of a recurring event such as a holiday or date.

   4. (intransitive) To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.

   5. (intransitive, formal, euphemistic) To die, especially in battle or by disease.

   6. (intransitive) To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).
      • 1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued

        The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished.

      • 1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Vol.1, pp.284-5:

        Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
4. (intransitive) To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To diminish; to lessen or lower.

   • Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.

6. (transitive, obsolete) To bring forth.
7. (intransitive, obsolete) To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

8. (intransitive) To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.

   • Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

9. (intransitive) To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.

10. (intransitive) To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.

    • Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

    • I have observed of late thy looks are fallen.

11. (intransitive) To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).

    • Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.

    • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I Scene 2

      […] An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

    • 1879, Herbert Spenser, Principles of Sociology Volume II – Part IV: Ceremonial Institutions

      Primitive men […] do not make laws, they fall into customs.

12. (intransitive) To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.
    • 1881, Benjamin Jowett (Thucydides)

      They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul.

13. (intransitive) To be dropped or uttered carelessly.

14. (intransitive, of a fabric) To hang down (under the influence of gravity).

Quotations

• c. 1591, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Richard the third, Andrew Wi?e (publisher, 1598 — second quarto), Act V, Scene 3:

  Ghoa?t [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the battaile thinke on me, / And fall thy edgele??e ?word, di?paire and die.

Synonyms

• (move to a lower position under the effect of gravity): drop, plummet, plunge
• (come down): come down, descend, drop
• (come to the ground deliberately): drop, lower oneself, prostrate oneself
• (be brought to the ground):
• (collapse; be overthrown or defeated): be beaten by, be defeated by, be overthrown by, be smitten by, be vanquished by,
• (die): die
• (be allotted to): be the responsibility of, be up to
• (become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc)): dip, drop
• (become): become, get
• (cause (something) to descend to the ground): cut down (of a tree), fell, knock down, knock over, strike down

Antonyms

• (come down): ascend, go up, rise
• (come to the ground deliberately): get up, pick oneself up, stand up
• (collapse; be overthrown or defeated): beat, defeat, overthrow, smite, vanquish
• (become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc)): rise

Coordinate terms

• topple
• tumble

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

fall (countable and uncountable, plural falls)

1. The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
2. A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.

   • “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.

3. (chiefly Canada, US, archaic in Britain) The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. [from 16th c.]
4. A loss of greatness or status.

5. That which falls or cascades.
6. (sports) A crucial event or circumstance.
   1. (cricket, of a wicket) The action of a batsman being out.
   2. (curling) A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.
   3. (wrestling) An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.
7. A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.
8. (informal, US) Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.

9. The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).

10. An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
11. A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.
12. The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard

Synonyms

• (act of moving to a lower position): descent, drop
• (reduction): decrease, dip, drop, lowering, reduction
• (season): autumn, (UK dialect) harvest, (UK dialect) back end
• (loss of greatness or status): downfall
• (blame; punishment): rap

Antonyms

• (act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity): ascent, rise
• (reduction): increase, rise
• (loss of greatness or status): ascent, rise

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• falls

Etymology 2

Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.

Interjection

fall

1. (nautical) The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.

Noun

fall (plural falls)

1. (nautical) The chasing of a hunted whale.

Derived terms

• loose fall

Albanian

Etymology

From Turkish fal, from Arabic ?????? (fa?l, “omen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa?/

Noun

fall m (indefinite plural falle, definite singular falli, definite plural fallet)

1. fortune telling

Declension

Derived terms

References

Breton

Adjective

fall

1. bad

Catalan

Etymology

From fallir.

Noun

fall m (plural falls)

1. cliff

Related terms

• falla

Further reading

• “fall” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Faroese

Etymology

From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fatl/

Noun

fall n (genitive singular fals, plural føll)

1. fall, drop
2. case (linguistics)

Declension

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fal/
• Rhymes: -al

Verb

fall

1. singular imperative of fallen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of fallen

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fatl/
• Rhymes: -atl

Noun

fall n (genitive singular falls, nominative plural föll)

1. fall, drop
2. (grammar) case
3. (computing, programming) function; (subprogram, usually with formal parameters, returning a data value when called)
4. indefinite accusative singular of fall

Declension

Synonyms

• (function): fallstefja

Derived terms

See also

• falla (verb)

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

fall n (definite singular fallet, indefinite plural fall, definite plural falla or fallene)

1. a fall
2. case

   i fall - in case

   i alle fall - in any case

Derived terms

Related terms

• falle (verb)

Verb

fall

1. imperative of falle

References

• “fall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?l?/

Noun

fall n (definite singular fallet, indefinite plural fall, definite plural falla)

1. a fall
2. case

Derived terms

Verb

fall

1. past tense of falle
2. imperative of falle

References

• “fall” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.

Pronunciation

Noun

fall n

1. a fall (the act of falling)
2. a fall, loss of greatness or wealth, a bankruptcy
3. a slope, a waterfall, the height of a slope or waterfall

4. a (legal) case

Declension

Related terms

Verb

fall

1. imperative of falla.

References

• fall in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

English

Etymology

From Middle English ruyne, ruine, from Old French ruine, from Latin ru?na (“overthrow, ruin”), from ru? (“I fall down, tumble, sink in ruin, rush”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??u?.?n/
• Rhymes: -u??n

Noun

ruin (countable and uncountable, plural ruins)

1. (countable, sometimes in the plural) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.

   • The Veian and the Gabian towirs shall fall, / And one promiscuous ruin cover all; / Nor, after length of years, a stone betray / The place where once the very ruins lay.

   • a. 1812, Joseph Stevens Buckminster, sermon

     The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
2. (uncountable) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.

3. (uncountable) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Youth and Age

     The errors of young men are the ruin of business.

   • The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He […] played a lone hand, […]. Most lone wolves had a moll at any rate—women were their ruin—but if the Bat had a moll, not even the grapevine telegraph could locate her.

4. (obsolete) A fall or tumble.
5. A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
   • 1768, Thomas Gray, The Bard

     Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!

6. (uncountable) Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.

Translations

Verb

ruin (third-person singular simple present ruins, present participle ruining, simple past and past participle ruined or (dialectal, nonstandard) ruint)

1. (transitive) To cause the fiscal ruin of.

   With all these purchases, you surely mean to ruin us!

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     In one way, indeed, he bade fair to ruin us; for he kept on staying week after week, and at last month after month, so that all the money had been long exhausted...

2. To destroy or make something no longer usable.

   He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.

   • 1857, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Mile-Stone

     By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeing ruined cities in the ashes.

3. To cause severe financial loss to; to bankrupt or drive out of business.

   The crooked stockbroker's fraudulent scheme ruined dozens of victims; some investors lost their life savings and even their houses.

4. To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.

   My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.

5. To make something less enjoyable or likeable.

   I used to love that song, but being assaulted when that song was playing ruined the song for me.

6. To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil.
7. (obsolete) To fall into a state of decay.
   • 1636, George Sandys, Paraphrase upon the Psalmes and upon the Hymnes dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments

     Though he his house of polisht marble build, / Yet shall it ruine like the Moth's fraile cell

8. (transitive, historical) To seduce or debauch, and thus harm the social standing of.

   The young libertine was notorious for ruining local girls.

Synonyms

• destroy
• fordo
• ruinate
• wreck
• See also Thesaurus:spoil

Antonyms

• build
• construct
• found
• produce

Related terms

• ruination
• ruinable
• ruiner
• ruinous
• ruint

Translations

Further reading

• ruin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ruin in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ruin at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Irun

Asturian

Adjective

ruin m sg (feminine singular ruina, neuter singular ruino, masculine plural ruinos, feminine plural ruines)

1. weedy

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ruun. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rœy?n/
• Hyphenation: ruin
• Rhymes: -œy?n

Noun

ruin m (plural ruinen, diminutive ruintje n)

1. gelding

See also

• hengst

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruiner, definite plural ruinene)

1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

• “ruin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ruina

Noun

ruin m (definite singular ruinen, indefinite plural ruinar, definite plural ruinane)

1. ruin (often in plural form when referring to buildings)

References

• “ruin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Etymology

From an earlier *ruino, from ruina, or from a Vulgar Latin root *ru?nus, ultimately from Latin ru?na. Compare Portuguese ruim, Catalan roí.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rwin/, [?rw?n]

Adjective

ruin (plural ruines)

1. contemptible, mean, heartless

   Synonyms: vil, despreciable

2. mean, stingy

   Synonyms: avaro, mezquino, tacaño, usurero, agarrado, cicatero

3. wild; unruly

   Synonyms: salvaje, agresto

4. rachitic

   Synonym: raquítico

Swedish

Noun

ruin c

1. a ruin (remains of a building)
2. ruin (financial bankruptcy)

Declension

Related terms

• ruinera

Anagrams

• urin

Tetum

Noun

ruin

1. bone