ruth means A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
ruth is pronounced /ɹuːθ/.
Why “ruth” is a great word
Sorrow or compassion for the misery of another; pity or mercy. From Middle English ruthe, reuthe, from rewen ("to rue") + -th (suffix forming nouns of action or state). The proper name is from Hebrew רוּת (Rut), possibly a contraction of רְעוּת (re'ut, "companion, friend"). Unlike pity, which can carry a whisper of condescension from a safe remove, or remorse, that clenched ache of guilt for one's own transgressions, ruth is the ache that rises from feeling—a raw, unguarded resonance with another's pain. It is the hand that hesitates before the raised lash, the stranger who stops in the rain to lift a fallen child, the silence that follows an unkind word when the speaker suddenly sees the wound they have made—a quality of feeling so vanished from common speech that we must borrow it back from scripture and ballad to name what mercy once was.
Etymology
From Ruth the Moabite, Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "companion". Also associated with the English noun ruth (“compassion”) by Puritans.
name
- A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
- The resident of Moab around whom the text centers.
- A female given name from Hebrew.e.g.“Her face hardened.
"I despise pity."
"In spite of your name? Ruth is your name, isn't it? Piquant that. Ruth the ruthless."”
- A census-designated place in White Pine County, Nevada, United States.
- A census-designated place in Trinity County, California, United States.
noun
- Sorrow for the misery of another person; compassion, mercy, pity.
- Regret, remorse, repentance.e.g.“But, what afflicts my peace with keenest ruth, / Is, that I have my inner self abused, / Forgone the home delight of constant truth, / And clear and open soul, so prized in fearless youth.”
- Matter for regret or sorrow; calamity, ruin; also, occasion for regret or sorrow; (countable) an instance of this; a disaster, a pitiful thing.
- Distress, misery, sorrow.
Words closest in meaning
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