ruth Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun United States professional baseball player famous for hitting home runs (1895-1948)
    George Herman Ruth; Babe Ruth; Sultan of Swat.
  2. noun the great-grandmother of king David whose story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament
  3. noun a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
    pity; commiseration; pathos.
    • the blind are too often objects of pity
  4. noun a book of the Old Testament that tells the story of Ruth who was not an Israelite but who married an Israelite and who stayed with her mother-in-law Naomi after her husband died
    Book of Ruth.

WordNet

Ruth noun
Etymology
From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hrygg&edh;, hryg&edh;.
Definitions
  1. Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. Poetic "They weep for ruth." Chaucer. "Have ruth of the poor." Piers Plowman.
    To stir up gentle ruth, Both for her noble blood, and for her tender youth. Spenser.
  2. That which causes pity or compassion; misery; distress; a pitiful. Obs.
    It had been hard this ruth for to see. Chaucer.
    With wretched miseries and woeful ruth. Spenser.

Webster 1913