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. — Txoria
Ruth isolated herself.
ruРут самоизолировалась. — Txoria
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