Destroyer

How to spell destroyer

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce destroyer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does destroyer mean?

1. nounA person, force, or thing that ruins, demolishes, or puts an end to something.
2. nounA fast, lightly armoured warship used to escort larger vessels and attack smaller craft.

Destroyer in a sentence

• The storm proved a ruthless destroyer of the coastal homes.

• The navy deployed a guided-missile destroyer to protect the convoy.

• Critics called the new motorway a destroyer of the old market town.

• The crew of the destroyer ran a drill on the open deck.

Where does destroyer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built on the verb destroy, which English took from the Old French destruire in the 1200s. That French verb descended from the Latin destruere, formed from the prefix de-, meaning 'reverse' or 'undo', joined to struere, meaning 'to build' or 'to pile up'; so to destroy was literally to un-build, to pull down what had been raised. The same struere root sits inside everyday relatives like 'structure', 'construct', and 'instruct', all of which are about building or arranging. The agent suffix -er was added in English to name the person or thing that carries out the action, giving 'destroyer'. From the late 1800s the word also came to name a fast naval warship, originally a 'torpedo-boat destroyer' designed to sink such boats, and the shortened form stuck. The spelling keeps the -oy- of destroy followed by a plain -er, so the only thing to remember is the smooth oy then er ending.

How the word is built

• de- (reverse, undo)
• stroy (from Latin struere: to build, pile up)
• -er (agent noun: one that does)