destruere

Destruere is a Latin verb meaning to destroy, tear down, or ruin. It covers physical demolition as well as the figurative collapse of plans, structures, or fortunes, and is used with a direct object in classical Latin just as other transitive verbs do.

Etymology and related forms: destruere is built from de- “down, away” plus struere “to build,” conveying the sense of taking down what has been raised. The word is the source of many Romance-language verbs such as Spanish destruir, French détruire, Italian distruggere, Portuguese destruir, and Romanian a distruge. The English noun destruction also derives from the same Latin root, via destructio.

Usage in Latin: destruere is a transitive verb of the classical third conjugation. It governs a direct object and appears in both literal demolitions (for example, destroying a city or fortifications) and figurative contexts (destroying a plan, reputation, or evidence). The language also employs the passive voice and standard perfect, pluperfect, and future forms like other verbs of its class, with participles such as destructus (having been destroyed) and the noun destructio (the act of destroying).

Cognates and influence: The term’s semantic field and its verbal descendants influenced numerous Romance languages, shaping words that express ruin or disassembly across Europe. In scholarly use, destruere is often discussed together with struere (to build) and construere (to construct), highlighting the semantic opposition between building and destroying.