Meaning
4 senses(archaic, countable, uncountable)Sorrow for the misery of another person; compassion, mercy, pity.
(archaic, countable, uncountable)Regret, remorse, repentance.
(obsolete, uncountable)Matter for regret or sorrow; calamity, ruin; also, occasion for regret or sorrow; (countable) an instance of this; a disaster, a pitiful thing.
(obsolete, uncountable)Distress, misery, sorrow.
- a book of the Old Testament that tells the story of Ruth who was not an Israelite but who married an Israelite and who stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband died
- the great-grandmother of king David whose story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament
- United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
- a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
Examples
16 sentencesRuth always says that.
Ruth loves it, too.
Ruth taught me to knit.
ruРут научила меня вязать.
Ruth isolated herself.
ruРут самоизолировалась.
I need your professional advice, Ruth.
Origin
From Middle English ruthe, reuthe, reuþe, reowthe, rewthe (“compassion, pity, sympathy; meFrom Middle English ruthe, reuthe, reuþe, reowthe, rewthe (“compassion, pity, sympathy; mercy; grief, sorrow; cause or event of pity or sorrow; lamentation; calamity, trouble; distress; regret, remorse; cruelty, ill treatment”), from reu, reuen (“to feel compassion or pity; to regret, rue; etc.”) + -th, -the (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc.), possibly influenced by an early Scandinavian language (compare Old Norse hrygð, hryggð (“affliction, grief, sorrow, ruth”), from the Proto-Germanic word indicated below). Reuen is derived from Old English hrēowan (“to grieve; to regret, rue; to repent”), from Proto-West Germanic *hreuwan (“to cause pain; to regret”), from Proto-Germanic *hrewwaną (“to cause regret, rue; to feel sorrow, grieve”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *krew(H)-, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“blood”) and *krows- (“to fall, beat, break, bruise”). By surface analysis, rue (“to regret; etc.”) + -th (suffix forming abstract nouns from verbs).
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Forms
plural: ruthsSynonyms
65 synonyms- a book of the Old Testament that tells the story of Ruth who was not an Israelite but who married an Israelite and who stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband died:Book of Ruth
- United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948):Babe RuthGeorge Herman RuthSultan of Swat
- a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others:commiserationpitypathos
Antonyms
1 antonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable