devil
Meanings
- The chief devil; Satan.
- An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
- A man with red or orange skin and a pair of horns on his head, a pointed goatee, and a long tail, who carries a pitchfork, represents evil, and is portrayed to children as a boogeyman who punishes bad behavior.
- The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
- A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
- A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
- Hell.
- A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
- A printer's assistant.
- A poltergeist that haunts printing works.
- A dust devil.
- A barren, unproductive and unused area.
- A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
- To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
- To annoy or bother.
- To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
- To ghostwrite; to author while working as a ‘devil’.
- To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy
- To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
- To finely grind (cooked ham or other meat) with spices and condiments.
- To prepare (shelled halved boiled eggs, as a sidedish) by removing the yolks, adding condiments and spices to them, and placing that mixture back into (the halved eggs' whites) to be served.
- To shred fabric into its fibres for recycling, as in the production of mungo or shoddy.
- The chief devil; Satan.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ Proto-Indo-European *dwísder. Ancient Greek διά (diá) Ancient Greek δια- (dia-) Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH-der. Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω (bắllō) Ancient Greek διαβάλλω (diabállō) Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos)bor. Latin diabolusbor. Proto-West Germanic *diubul Old English dēofol Middle English devel English devil From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, from Proto-West Germanic *diubul, from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Bavarian Teifl (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.