destroyour
Middle English
Alternative forms
- destroiour, destroyere, distruyere
- destrier, destroyer, destruer, destruyer, distriere, distroer, distroier, distroyer, distruour, dystroyour (Late Middle English)
- dystroyare (Promptorium Parvulorum)
Etymology
Initially borrowed from Anglo-Norman destruieur, destruour (“destroyer”), but later reanalysed as destroyen (“to destroy, ruin”) + -ere (agent noun suffix).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /dɛːˈstrui̯ər(ə)/, /dɛːˈstriu̯ər(ə)/, /dɛːˈstriːər(ə)/, /di-/
Noun
destroyour (plural destroyours)
- A despoiler or devastator; one who destroys or plunders (goods, peace)
- An eliminator or purger (mostly of abstract values)
Descendants
References
- “dē̆stroier(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.