destroyen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• destroye, destru, destrue, destrui, destruye, destrye, distrie, dysstrye
• destrewe, distroy, distroye, distroyen, distroyne, distruy, distruye, distruyȝe, dystre, dystroye (Late Middle English)

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French destruire, from Late Latin *dēstrūgere, from Latin dēstruere, from dē- (“de-”) +‎ struere (“put together”). Compare destruccioun and stroyen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛˈstrui̯ən/, /dɛˈstriu̯ən/, /dɛˈstriːən/, /dɛː-/, /di-/
• IPA^(key): /dɛˈstryː-/ (Northern, Southern, West Midland)

Verb

destroyen (third-person singular simple present destroyeth, present participle destroyinge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle destroyed)

1. To destroy or ruin:
   1. To demolish, damage or ruin (an abstraction, building, or thing)

      Synonyms: merren, stroyen

   2. To devastate or ravage (a person/people or a place)
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 11:18, folio 121, recto, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        ⁊ folkis ben wrooþ · ⁊ þi wraþþe cam · ⁊ tyme of deed men to be demed · ⁊ to ȝelde meede to þi ſeruauntis ⁊ pꝛophetis ⁊ halowis ⁊ dꝛedynge þi name · to ſmale ⁊ to grete / ⁊ to diſtrie hem þat coꝛrumpiden þe erþe

        And the nations were furious; then your fury came. It is time for the dead to be judged, to give rewards to your servants, prophets, saints, and those who fear your name, both small and large, and to destroy those who destroyed the Earth.

   3. To kill or murder; to end the life of.

      Synonyms: merren, stroyen

   4. To eliminate (an abstraction, disease or toxin)

      Synonym: stroyen

2. To vex, afflict, or harass (a person or people)

   Synonyms: merren, stroyen

3. (rare) To waste money or goods.

   Synonym: stroyen

   • c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “[Prologue]”, in [Piers Plowman, A Treatise on Sin] (W, B-text), London, published c. 1400, →OCLC, folio 1, recto; republished as Thorlac Turville-Petre, Hoyt N. Duggan, editors, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.15.17 (The Piers Plowman Electronic Archive; 2), SEENET, 2014, →ISBN:

     Some putten hem to þe plouȝ. pleıden ful selde / In settynge and sowynge. swonken ful harde. / And wonnen þat waſtours. w^t glotonẏe deſtruẏeþ.

     Some apply themselves to the plough; [they] very rarely played, / but worked so hard in planting and sowing, / and obtained what idlers squander through gluttony.

4. (rare) To confiscate or plunder (goods)

Conjugation

Conjugation of destroyen (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) destroyen, destroye
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	destroye	destroyed
2nd-person singular	destroyest	destroyedest
3rd-person singular	destroyeth	destroyed
subjunctive singular	destroye
imperative singular		—
plural1	destroyen, destroye	destroyeden, destroyede
imperative plural	destroyeth, destroye	—
participles	destroyynge, destroyende	destroyed

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

• destroyour
• stroyen

Descendants

• English: destroy
  • >? Gullah: stroy (or from stroy)
• Middle Scots: destroy
  • Scots: destroy

References

• “dē̆stroien, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.