Definition of PERDITION

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Perdition began life as a word meaning "utter destruction"; that sense is now archaic, but it provides a clue about the origins of the word. "Perdition" was borrowed into English in the 14th century from Anglo-French perdiciun and ultimately derives from the Latin verb perdere, meaning "to destroy." "Perdere" was formed by combining the prefix per- ("through") and "dare" ("to give"). Other descendants of that Latin dare in English include "date," "edition," "render," and "traitor."

Examples of perdition in a Sentence

sinners condemned to eternal perdition simple stupidity is not enough to doom one to perdition

Recent Examples on the Web Lucifer has been saved from perdition yet again — because Netflix has renewed the devilish WBTV drama for a miraculous sixth and final season, the streaming service announced Tuesday morning. — Chancellor Agard, EW.com, "Lucifer resurrected (again)! Netflix officially renews it for season 6," 23 June 2020 Morels even more blatantly favor drama, thriving on tree death, soil disturbance, fire and perdition. — Heather Arndt Anderson, Sunset Magazine, "The West Had a Fiery Summer and Fall. How Will Plants Rebound This Spring?," 31 Jan. 2020 Leading the way to political perdition is the American Republican Party. — Garry Kasparov, The New York Review of Books, "A Popular Front to Stop Trump," 28 Jan. 2020 This rush-to-perdition premise is only interesting as the latest raunchy comedy from actor Seth Rogen and his producing partner Evan Goldberg (Knocked Up, Superbad, Sausage Party, Blocked). — Armond White, National Review, "Good Boys Celebrates the Corruption of Innocence," 16 Aug. 2019 The report outlined three major steps in Backpage’s road to perdition. — Christine Biederman, WIRED, "Inside Backpage.com’s Vicious Battle With the Feds," 18 June 2019 The road to perdition in the technology business is littered with ideas that sounded great in concept but flopped in execution. — Peter Grant, WSJ, "Need a Lunchtime Companion at Work? Check the Office App," 29 May 2018 Like these earlier explorers of perdition, Peterson found wisdom through his harrowing trek. — Jeet Heer, The New Republic, "Jordan Peterson’s Tired Old Myths," 21 May 2018 Its crowdedness seems to amplify the collective anxiety of the artists witnessing, resisting and, at times, celebrating their road to perdition. — Jason Farago, New York Times, "Walk Through This Exhibition With Dread. You Know Where It Leads.," 5 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'perdition.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.