noun
archaicA feeling of pity, distress, or grief.
‘The young men, fiery savage children of a gentle civilized mother, slew with neither ruth nor pity.’- ‘Her honesty is never ruthless in the strict sense of the word; there is ruth, or mercy, even for the worst.’
- ‘But when it comes to making personnel decisions, Johnson is legendarily ruthless; not an ounce of ruth in him.’
- ‘And speak me no soft words in ruth or pity, but tell me plainly how thou didst get sight of him. --Homer, The Odyssey’
compassion, commiseration, condolence, sorrow, regret, sadness, distress, sympathy, fellow feeling, understanding, feeling, emotion
Pronunciation
Origin
Middle English from the verb rue, probably influenced by Old Norse hrygth.
proper noun
A book of the Bible telling the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman, who married her deceased husband's kinsman Boaz and bore a son, Obed, who became grandfather to King David.
Pronunciation
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