evil

English Online Dictionary. What means evil‎? What does evil mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ē-vəl, ē-vĭl, IPA^(key): /ˈiːvɪl/, /ˈiːvl̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈivl̩/
• Rhymes: -iːvəl

Etymology 1

From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz (compare Saterland Frisian eeuwel, Dutch euvel, Low German övel, German übel, Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”). See -le for the supposed suffix.

Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h₃ewp- (“down, up, over”).

Adjective

evil (comparative eviller or eviler or more evil, superlative evillest or evilest or most evil)

1. Intending to harm; malevolent.
   • 2006, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Wizard of the Crow, New York: Pantheon, Book Three, Section II, Chapter 3, p. 351,^[4]

     “Before this, I never had any cause to suspect my wife of any conspiracy.”

     “You mean it never crossed your mind that she might have been told to whisper evil thoughts in your ear at night?”
2. Morally corrupt.
3. Unpleasant, foul (of odor, taste, mood, weather, etc.).
   • 1660, John Harding (translator), Paracelsus his Archidoxis, London: W.S., Book 7, “Of an Odoriferous Specifick,” p. 100,^[8]

     An Odoriferous Specifick […] is a Matter that takes away Diseases from the Sick, no otherwise then as Civet drives away the stinck of Ordure by its Odour; for you are to observe, That the Specifick doth permix it self with this evil Odour of the Dung; and the stink of the Dung cannot hurt, no[r] abide there […]

   • 1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, London: Macmillan, Part V, “Mazar-i-Sherif,” p. 282,^[9]

     It was an evil day, sticky and leaden: Oxiana looked as colourless and suburban as India.
4. Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous.
5. (obsolete) Having harmful qualities; not good; worthless or deleterious.
6. (computing, programming, slang) Undesirable; harmful; bad practice.

Synonyms

• nefarious
• malicious
• malevolent
• wicked
• See also Thesaurus:evil

Antonyms

• good

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

evil (countable and uncountable, plural evils)

1. Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
2. Something which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; something which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; harm; injury; mischief.
3. (obsolete) A malady or disease; especially in combination, as in king's evil, colt evil.

Antonyms

• good

Derived terms

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfele (“badly, evilly”), a derivative of the adjective yfel (“bad, evil”). Often reinterpreted as the noun in the later language (as in "to speak evil").

Adverb

evil (comparative more evil, superlative most evil)

2. (obsolete) wickedly, evilly, iniquitously
3. (obsolete) injuriously, harmfully; in a damaging way.
4. (obsolete) badly, poorly; in an insufficient way.

Usage notes

This adverb was usually used in conjunction with speak.

References

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Evil, adv.”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume III (D–E), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 350, column 2.

Anagrams

• Levi, Viel, live, veil, vile, vlei

Middle English

Etymology 1

Adjective

evil

1. alternative form of yvel (“evil”)

Etymology 2

Adverb

evil

1. alternative form of yvel (“evilly”)