an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction
<noun.state> you have brought ruin on this entire family
an event that results in destruction
<noun.event>
failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
<noun.event>
destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined
<noun.act>
Ruination \Ru`in*a"tion\, n. [LL. ruinatio.] The act of ruining, or the state of being ruined.
Storytellers sympathetic to the ranchers portrayed the Owens Valley as a democratic Eden and the sinuous aqueduct as the evil serpent causing their ruination.