What does perdition mean?
Perdition is a formal noun denoting damnation, complete destruction, or final ruin. Its most familiar use is religious: to be condemned to perdition is to face hell or eternal punishment. It can also describe severe earthly downfall, as when a person, dynasty, city, or institution is said to fall into perdition. The word is strongly rhetorical and conveys irreversible catastrophe rather than ordinary misfortune or defeat. Because it is associated with solemn religious language and elevated prose, it is less common in neutral everyday speech, though modern writers use it to evoke moral collapse, catastrophe, or despair. Perdition is especially memorable for joining two related yet distinct ideas: the destruction of something worldly and the eternal damnation of a soul. Its unusually sombre register makes it effective in warnings, sermons, historical narration, and literary descriptions of catastrophe.
The state of being condemned to hell or eternal punishment; complete spiritual damnation.
"The sermon portrayed a life of cruelty as a path to perdition."
This is the dominant modern sense and is especially associated with religious and literary language.
Complete ruin, destruction, or irreversible downfall.
"Economic corruption hastened the empire's perdition."
This figurative sense occurs especially in historical, political, and moral contexts.
The plural is rare; perdition is normally treated as an uncountable noun.
"The text treats each catastrophe as one of several perditions."
Perdition can mean both earthly ruin and eternal damnation: one word can cover the end of a life and, in religious language, the fate of a soul.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does perdition come from?
Perdition entered English through Old French perdition, which was borrowed from Latin perditionem, a form of the verb perdere, meaning “to destroy” or “ruin.” The word developed senses associated with both destruction and damnation, and related English forms such as forfeit and perdu descend from the same Latin verbal root. In modern English, the religious sense has become especially prominent.
How perdition is actually used
Perdition is formal, literary, and often religious. Its religious sense is now dominant, while the broader sense of ruin or downfall also occurs, especially in historical and political prose.