ruthful, ruthless, rue and ruth interesting words

Alligatorob

Alligatorob

SF VIP
Location
Northern Utah, transplanted from Florida/Louisiana
Did you know you can be ruthful? Its an older word than ruthless.

Ruthful, meaning merciful or full of sorrow, can be found back to the 13th century in English. Ruthless, meaning having no compassion or pity, goes back to the 14th century.

Interestingly, the word "ruth" is related to the very old Germanic verb "rue."

Rue means to affect with sorrow or to grieve. It's been used in different ways throughout the centuries, but generally when we hear it today, it has to do with looking back on something with regret. For example, "I rue the day Cousin Oliver showed up on the Brady Bunch."

Shark jumping aside, if you take "rue" and tack on the suffix "th," you get ruth. In this case, the suffix is the same one we see in other verbs that have been transformed into nouns -- including growth, health, and truth.

So, that's how we get ruth -- a noun meaning mercy or sorrow. From there, tack on a couple more suffixes, and we get ruthless, meaning without compassion or mercy, and the long forgotten ruthful which means to be filled with compassion or pity.

https://www.michiganradio.org/arts-culture/2017-09-03/heres-some-ruth-for-the-ruthless
 

Alligatorob said:
Did you know you can be ruthful? Its an older word than ruthless.

Ruthful, meaning merciful or full of sorrow, can be found back to the 13th century in English. Ruthless, meaning having no compassion or pity, goes back to the 14th century.

Interestingly, the word "ruth" is related to the very old Germanic verb "rue."

Rue means to affect with sorrow or to grieve. It's been used in different ways throughout the centuries, but generally when we hear it today, it has to do with looking back on something with regret. For example, "I rue the day Cousin Oliver showed up on the Brady Bunch."

Shark jumping aside, if you take "rue" and tack on the suffix "th," you get ruth. In this case, the suffix is the same one we see in other verbs that have been transformed into nouns -- including growth, health, and truth.

So, that's how we get ruth -- a noun meaning mercy or sorrow. From there, tack on a couple more suffixes, and we get ruthless, meaning without compassion or mercy, and the long forgotten ruthful which means to be filled with compassion or pity.

https://www.michiganradio.org/arts-culture/2017-09-03/heres-some-ruth-for-the-ruthless
Click to expand...
Love this! Words fascinate me!
One should select words before speaking, as if he cherished them.
 

In view of what you say, why would anyone name their child "Ruth" or why would anyone name their child "Les"?
I knew a man named Les once and he was shy, weak, a follower. I always wondered if his name had anything to do with that?
 
Alligatorob said:
Did you know you can be ruthful? Its an older word than ruthless.

Ruthful, meaning merciful or full of sorrow, can be found back to the 13th century in English. Ruthless, meaning having no compassion or pity, goes back to the 14th century.

Interestingly, the word "ruth" is related to the very old Germanic verb "rue."

Rue means to affect with sorrow or to grieve. It's been used in different ways throughout the centuries, but generally when we hear it today, it has to do with looking back on something with regret. For example, "I rue the day Cousin Oliver showed up on the Brady Bunch."

Shark jumping aside, if you take "rue" and tack on the suffix "th," you get ruth. In this case, the suffix is the same one we see in other verbs that have been transformed into nouns -- including growth, health, and truth.

So, that's how we get ruth -- a noun meaning mercy or sorrow. From there, tack on a couple more suffixes, and we get ruthless, meaning without compassion or mercy, and the long forgotten ruthful which means to be filled with compassion or pity.

https://www.michiganradio.org/arts-culture/2017-09-03/heres-some-ruth-for-the-ruthless
Click to expand...
Interesting. But remember rue means street in French.
 
Gaer said:
In view of what you say, why would anyone name their child "Ruth"
Click to expand...
The name Ruth is of very different origins from the word ruth.

Ruth is a biblical name, Hebrew origin, meaning friend or friendship. https://www.verywellfamily.com/ruth-name-meaning-origin-popularity-5211598 A good name!

The word ruth, meaning a feeling of pity, distress, or grief derived from from the old Norse or German hryght or rue. No connect to Ruth, except for spelling and pronunciation. https://www.google.com/search?q=Wha...9.1671j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#dobs=ruth

Don't know about Les, but there is a tombstone in Boot Hill I like:
s-l500.jpg
 
Alligatorob said:
The name Ruth is of very different origins from the word ruth.

Ruth is a biblical name, Hebrew origin, meaning friend or friendship. https://www.verywellfamily.com/ruth-name-meaning-origin-popularity-5211598 A good name!

The word ruth, meaning a feeling of pity, distress, or grief derived from from the old Norse or German hryght or rue. No connect to Ruth, except for spelling and pronunciation. https://www.google.com/search?q=What+Does+Ruth+Mean?&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS977US977&oq=What+Does+Ruth+Mean?&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l9.1671j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#dobs=ruth

Don't know about Les, but there is a tombstone in Boot Hill I like:
View attachment 247924
Click to expand...
Thanks for looking all that up. Didn't mean for you to go to all that trouble. "four slugs from a 44" Brave way to go!
 

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