Register Log In Wordsmith Talk Forums General Topics Q&A about words Origin of word Ruthless Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Origin of word Ruthless #1633 04/27/2000 3:59 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 1 echo1111 stranger echo1111 stranger Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 1 I am curious about the origin of the word ruthless. Thank you Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Origin of word Ruthless #1634 04/27/2000 4:27 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass try this: http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-rut1.htm hint: often you can find word origins on the web by doing a "google" search [google.com] and simply entering "<word> origin" in the search field (without the "s). http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/ Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Origin of word Ruthless #1635 04/28/2000 11:41 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 460 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia paulb addict paulb addict Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 460 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia It's from the word ruth (Middle English = compassion, pity, sorrow, grief, distress etc). Interesting that ruthless (and ruthful) have survived but not the original word. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith Talk