Vandalized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Deliberately damaged or destroyed, especially public or private property, to cause harm or defacement
2. Having been intentionally harmed or ruined by acts of destruction or defacement, often involving property
3. Subjected to willful damage or destruction, typically as an act of mischief or protest against property

Etymology: The verb "vandalize" is a derivative of "vandal," and the story behind "vandal" is more famous than the suffix. The Vandals were a Germanic people who sacked Rome in 455, and the sack became so notorious that their name passed into languages across Europe as a byword for wanton destruction. English took the noun from that reputation, and the verb came later by adding the verb-forming ending "-ize." That ending has an interesting pedigree of its own. It passed into English through Middle French "-iser" and Late Latin "-izare," which in turn were borrowed from Ancient Greek "-izein," a suffix used to form verbs meaning "to make into" or "to act in the manner of." So "vandalize" joins a long line of words that turn a noun into an action: the people became a verb for the deed. The past tense "vandalized" is simply the regular ending "-ed" added to the verb, so the word describes property that has been deliberately damaged in the same spirit the original Vandals were blamed for.

Synonyms: damaged, defaced, destroyed, ruined, sabotaged

Antonyms: protected, preserved, maintained, restored, enhanced