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perdition

 - 3 dictionary results

per⋅di⋅tion

  [per-dish-uhn]
–noun
1. a state of final spiritual ruin; loss of the soul; damnation.
2. the future state of the wicked.
3. hell (def. 1).
4. utter destruction or ruin.
5. Obsolete. loss.
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Origin:
1300–50; < L perditiōn- (s. of perditiō) destruction, equiv. to perdit(us) (ptp. of perdere to do in, ruin, lose, equiv. to per- per- + di-, comb. form of dare to give + -tus ptp. suffix) + -iōn -ion; r. ME perdiciun < OF < L, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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per·di·tion   (pər-dĭsh'ən)   
n.  

    1. Loss of the soul; eternal damnation.

    2. Hell: "Him the Almighty Power/Hurl'd headlong . . . /To bottomless perdition, there to dwell" (John Milton).

  2. Archaic Utter ruin.


[Middle English perdicion, from Old French, from Late Latin perditiō, perditiōn-, from Latin perditus, past participle of perdere, to lose : per-, per- + dare, to give; see dō- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

perdition 
c.1340, "fact of being lost or destroyed," from O.Fr. perdiciun (11c.), from L.L. perditionem (nom. perditio) "ruin, destruction," from L. perditus, pp. of perdere "do away with, destroy, lose, throw away," from per- "through" (here perhaps with intensive or completive force, "to destruction") + -dare "to put" (see date (1)). Special theological sense of "condition of damnation, spiritual ruin, state of souls in Hell" (1382) has gradually extinguished the general use of the word.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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