Big BookAlcoholics Anonymous · the Twelve and Twelve

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Glossary

ruin

noun; verb · read in Alcoholics Anonymous (1939)

In context

One morning he took the bull by the horns and set out to tell those he feared what his trouble had been. He found himself surprisingly well received, and learned that many knew of his drinking. Stepping into his car, he made the rounds of people he had hurt. He trembled as he went about, for this might mean ruin, particularly to a person in his line of business.

Here: Here ruin is the noun in its sense of destruction of a person's standing, livelihood and good name. The man who has gone to make amends trembles because telling people the truth about his drinking might bring about his downfall in business.

In 1939 ruin was a strong, everyday word for total undoing. Webster's Collegiate (5th ed., 1939 printing) defines it as “Such change as to impair effectiveness; destruction,” and as “The cause or the causing of such destruction or impairment,” with the example “drink will be the ruin of him.” It also lists the sense of being “decayed, destroyed, wrecked,” and the verb sense “To bankrupt.” Webster's Revised Unabridged (1913) gives “bring to poverty or bankruptcy” and the noun sense “That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction.” The 1828 Webster adds “To impoverish” and, among the nouns, “the ruin of health” and the ruin of “reputation.” The Century Dictionary (1911) names “financial ruin” as a specific sense, and ties the word to wrecking “the material or moral well-being” of a person.

The word's core has changed little. Today it is also used lightly, as in “ruined my vacation” or a ruined song, and Wiktionary lists the spoiling sense as ordinary. Those senses are not in the 1939 and earlier entries I have here, which keep to destruction, bankruptcy, and downfall. The dictionaries above do not settle how casually a 1939 speaker might have used it. The entries themselves are weighty ones.

This passage uses the weighty sense. The man's fear is for his business, “particularly to a person in his line of business,” where credit and reputation are the livelihood. The 1939 entries bring out two layers at once, financial collapse and loss of good name. His trembling is proportionate. He is risking the thing the Collegiate calls destruction, not mere embarrassment. The surprise of the next lines, that he was “well received,” depends on how large the feared outcome was.

Usages

Written by Claude (sonnet) from the dictionaries and passages of the lookup; every quotation in it was checked against them, and what could not be found was left out. A study aid, not a source.

The dictionaries of 1939

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Ruin \Ru′in, v. i. To fall to ruins; to go to ruin; to become decayed or dilapidated; to perish. [R.] Though he his house of polished marble build, Yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. —Sandys. If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. —Locke.

Ruin \Ru′in, n. [OE. ruine, F. ruine, fr. L. ruina, fr. ruere, rutum, to fall with violence, to rush or tumble down.]

  1. The act of falling or tumbling down; fall. [Obs.] "His ruin startled the other steeds." —Chapman.
  2. Such a change of anything as destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; destruction; overthrow; as, the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution or a government; the ruin of health or hopes. "Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!" —Gray.
  3. That which is fallen down and become worthless from injury or decay; as, his mind is a ruin; especially, in the plural, the remains of a destroyed, dilapidated, or desolate house, fortress, city, or the like. The Veian and the Gabian towers shall fall, And one promiscuous ruin cover all; Nor, after length of years, a stone betray The place where once the very ruins lay. —Addison. The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character. —Buckminster.
  4. The state of being dcayed, or of having become ruined or worthless; as, to be in ruins; to go to ruin.
  5. That which promotes injury, decay, or destruction. The errors of young men are the ruin of business. —Bacon. Syn. Destruction; downfall; perdition; fall; overthrow; subversion; defeat; bane; pest; mischief.

Ruin \Ru′in, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ruined;p. pr. & vb. n. Ruining.] [Cf. F. ruiner, LL. ruinare. See Ruin, n.] To bring to ruin; to cause to fall to pieces and decay; to make to perish; to bring to destruction; to bring to poverty or bankruptcy; to impair seriously; to damage essentially; to overthrow. this mortal house I'll ruin. —Shak. By thee raised, I ruin all my foes. —Milton. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. By the fireside there are old men seated, Seeling ruined cities in the ashes. —Longfellow. —Franklin.

— Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), the [1913 Webster] text of GCIDE on dict.org

The dictionary on a 1939 desk was Webster's Second New International (1934), in copyright until 2030; the Collegiate above is its 1939 abridgment, from a local scan. Webster's Revised Unabridged (1913) is the nearest public-domain dictionary.

Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)

RU'IN, noun [Latin ruo, to fall, to rush down.] 1., ruin Destruction; fall; overthrow; defeat; that change of any thing which destroys it, or entirely defeats its object, or unfits it for use; as the ruin of a house; the ruin of a ship or an army; the ruin of a constitution of government; the ruin of health; the ruin of commerce; the ruin of public or private happiness; the ruin of a project. 2., Mischief; bane; that which destroys. The errors of young men are the ruin of business. 3., ruin more generally ruins, the remains of a decayed or demolished city, house, fortress, or any work of art or other thing; as the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra or Persepolis; the ruins of a wall; a castle in ruins. The labor of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character. 4., The decayed or enfeebled remains of a natural object; as, the venerable old man presents a great mind in ruins. 5., The cause of destruction. They were the ruin of him and of all Israel. 2 Chronicles 28:23 . RU'IN, v, t, 1., ruin To demolish; to pull down, burn, or otherwise destroy; as, to ruin a city or an edifice. 2., ruin To subvert; to destroy; as, to ruin a state or government. 3., ruin To destroy; to bring to an end; as, to ruin commerce or manufactures. 4., ruin To destroy in any manner; as, to ruin health or happiness; to ruin reputation. 5., ruin To counteract; to defeat; as, to ruin a plan or project. 6., To deprive of felicity or fortune. By thee rais'd I ruin all my foes. Grace with a nod, and ruin with a frown. 7., To impoverish; as, to be ruined by speculation. The eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. 8., ruin To bring to everlasting misery; as, to ruin the soul. RU'IN, verb intransitive 1., To fall into ruins. 2., To run to ruin; to fall into decay or be dilapidated. Though he his house of polish'd marble build, yet shall it ruin like the moth's frail cell. 3., To be reduced; to be brought to poverty or misery. If we are idle, and disturb the industrious in their business, we shall ruin the faster. [Note. This intransitive use of the verb is now unusual.] — Webster's 1828

WordNet 3.0 (Princeton, 2006)

  • noun 1: an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction — “you have brought ruin on this entire family” [syn: ruin, ruination]
  • noun 2: a ruined building — “they explored several Roman ruins”
  • noun 3: the process of becoming dilapidated [syn: dilapidation, ruin]
  • noun 4: an event that results in destruction [syn: ruin, ruination]
  • noun 5: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation [syn: downfall, ruin, ruination]
  • noun 6: destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined [syn: laying waste, ruin, ruining, ruination, wrecking]
  • verb 1: destroy completely; damage irreparably — “You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!” [syn: destroy, ruin]
  • verb 2: destroy or cause to fail — “This behavior will ruin your chances of winning the election”
  • verb 3: reduce to bankruptcy — “My daughter's fancy wedding is going to break me!” [syn: bankrupt, ruin, break, smash]
  • verb 4: reduce to ruins — “The country lay ruined after the war”
  • verb 5: deprive of virginity — “This dirty old man deflowered several young girls in the village” [syn: deflower, ruin]
  • verb 6: fall into ruin

— WordNet 3.0 on dict.org

In the Book 13

Alcoholics Anonymous 9

In the personal stories 1

It Might Have Been Worse

  • BB p.353 ¶1 The final decision came when my daughter, following a drunk of mine that ruined my wife’s birthday, said, “It’s Alcoholics Anonymous—or else!” Of course, this sug ges tion had been made…

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions 4

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