Derelict vs Ruin - What's the difference?
derelict | ruin |
Abandoned, forsake; given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; (of a ship) abandoned at sea, dilapidated, neglected; (of a spacecraft) abandoned in outer space.
* Jeremy Taylor
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, title=When and where did NASA's derelict satellite go down?
Negligent in performing a duty.
Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful.
* Burke
* John Buchanan
Property abandoned by its former owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea.
* {{quote-book
, year=1907
, title=(The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses)
, author=Robert W. Service
, chapter=(The Cremation of Sam McGee)
, passage=Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay; / It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the "Alice May". / And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum; / Then "Here", said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."}}
(dated) An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast.
* 1911 Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax” (Norton 2005, p.1364):
A homeless and/or jobless person; a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their personal affairs and hygiene.
* 1988 , Jonathan D. Spence, The Question of Hu :
* 2002 , in The Cambridge Edition of the Works of D. H. Lawrence'', ''The Boy in the Bush , edited by Paul Eggert, page 22:
* 2004 , Katherine V. W. Stone, From Widgets to Digits: Employment Regulation , page 280:
The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
*(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
*: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.
*(Joseph Stevens Buckminster) (1751-1812)
*:The labour of a day will not build up a virtuous habit on the ruins of an old and vicious character.
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=Foreword (lb) The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
:
(lb) Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
:
*(Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
*:The errors of young men are the ruin of business.
*
*:The Bat—they called him the Bat.. 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.
(lb) A fall or tumble.
*(George Chapman) (1559-1634)
*:His ruin startled the other steeds.
A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
:
*(Thomas Gray) (1716-1771)
*:Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!
to cause the ruin of.
* 1883 ,
To destroy or make something no longer usable.
* Longfellow
To upset or mess up the plans or progress of, or to put into disarray; to spoil.
As nouns the difference between derelict and ruin
is that derelict is property abandoned by its former owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea while ruin is the remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.As an adjective derelict
is abandoned, forsake; given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; (of a ship) abandoned at sea, dilapidated, neglected; (of a spacecraft) abandoned in outer space.As a verb ruin is
to cause the ruin of.derelict
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- There was a derelict ship on the island.
- The affections which these exposed or derelict children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of nature or assiduity but civility and opinion.
citation
- They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy.
- A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties.
Synonyms
* (abandoned) abandonedNoun
(en noun)- A rather pathetic figure, the Lady Frances, a beautiful woman, still in fresh middle age, and yet, by a strange chance, the last derelict of what only twenty years ago was a goodly fleet.
- As they hunt, the Archers and Duval find many derelicts and ne'er-do-wells in many parts of Paris.
- If they're lazy derelicts and ne'er-do-wells she'll eat 'em up. But she's waiting for real men — British to the bone —
- We see the distinction at work when victims of natural disasters and terrorist attacks are treated more generously than derelicts and drug addicts.
See also
* flotsam * jetsam * lagan * salvageruin
English
Noun
(en noun)citation, passage=A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.}}
Verb
(en verb)- 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...
- He ruined his new white slacks by accidentally spilling oil on them.
- By the fireside there are old men seated, / Seeling ruined cities in the ashes.
- My car breaking down just as I was on the road ruined my vacation.