Destruccioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Middle English spelling for the act of destroying something or the ruin that results from it
2. An archaic form meaning the wrecking, overthrow, or ruin of a thing, as used in older English texts
3. Historical Middle English term for the tearing down or ruin of something, equivalent to modern destruction

Etymology: Destruction is built on a metaphor of construction. Latin "destruere" combined "de-", meaning "down" or "undo," with "struere," meaning "to build" or "pile up." To destroy was literally to unbuild, to pull down what had been stacked together. The same root gives English "structure" and "construct," so these words are relatives pointing in opposite directions. "Destruccioun" is a Middle English spelling of the word. It came through Old French "destruction," which kept the Latin ending "-tionem" in a form that Middle English writers spelled in several ways, including "-cioun" and "-tioun." Medieval scribes were not standardizing spelling, so a reader of the period could meet many variants of the same word in a single text.