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devil

Pronunciation: /ˈdɛvəl/

The English word “devil” has 20 meanings listed here.

proper noun

  1. The chief devil; Satan.

noun

  1. An evil creature, the objectification of a hostile and destructive force.
  2. 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.
  3. The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.
  4. A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.
  5. A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.
  6. Hell.
  7. A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.
  8. A printer's assistant.
  9. A poltergeist that haunts printing works.
  10. A lawyer’s assistant.
  11. A dust devil.
  12. A barren, unproductive and unused area.
  13. A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
  14. A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc., as used in the production of mungo or shoddy.
  15. A Tasmanian devil.
  16. An endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.

verb

  1. To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
  2. To annoy or bother.
  3. To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.

Etymology

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”) +…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.