Ruth

//ɹuːθ// name, noun

name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Sorrow for the misery of another; pity, compassion; mercy. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "It was my fortune to be at Rome, upon a day that one Catena, a notorious high-way theefe, was executed: at his strangling no man of the companie seemed to be mooved to any ruth[…]."

  2. 2
    a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others wordnet
  3. 3
    Repentance; regret; remorse. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XLIV, 2005, The Works of A. E. Housman [1994, The Collected Poems of A. E. Housman], page 61, Now to your grave shall friend and stranger With ruth and some with envy come […]."

  4. 4
    Sorrow; misery; distress. countable, obsolete, uncountable
  5. 5
    Something which causes regret or sorrow; a pitiful sight. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A book of the Old Testament and the Hebrew Tanakh.
  2. 2
    The resident of Moab around whom the text centers.

    "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

  3. 3
    A female given name from Hebrew.

    "Her face hardened. "I despise pity." "In spite of your name? Ruth is your name, isn't it? Piquant that. Ruth the ruthless.""

  4. 4
    A census-designated place in White Pine County, Nevada, United States.
  5. 5
    A census-designated place in Trinity County, California, United States.

Synonyms

All synonyms
commiserationcommiserationpityruedistressgrief

Example

More examples

"When Albert fools around, Ruth rests. When Ruth fools around, Albert rests."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English reuþe, ruthe, reuthe, rewthe, reowthe, corresponding to rue + -th (abstract nominal suffix), perhaps after early Scandinavian (compare Old Norse hrygð, hryggð (“ruth, sorrow”)).

Etymology 2

From Ruth the Moabite, Hebrew רות, of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "companion". Also associated with the English noun ruth (“compassion”) by Puritans.

Related phrases

Ruth GlacierRuth Islandold testament

More for "ruth"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.