Destruction

How to spell destruction

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce destruction

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does destruction mean?

1. nounThe act or process of damaging something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be repaired.

Destruction in a sentence

• The storm caused widespread destruction along the coast.

• The fire led to the total destruction of the warehouse.

Where does destruction come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin destructio, a noun formed from the verb destruere, which combined de- meaning 'down' or 'away' with struere meaning 'to build' or 'to pile up'. The literal sense was therefore 'to pull down what has been built', the exact opposite of construction, which shares the same struere root. English took the word in during the 1300s through Old French destruccion, keeping the meaning of demolition, ruin, or the act of laying waste. The same struere root surfaces in a large family of English words, including structure, construct, instruct, and obstruct, all of which keep the telltale 'struct' spelling. Knowing that the middle of the word is the solid building block 'struct' helps fix the spelling, since the trap is the unstressed 'de-' at the front and the '-tion' ending that sounds like 'shun'.

How the word is built

• de- (down, away)
• struct (from struere: to build, pile up)
• -ion (noun of action)