# enemy
## English
### Alternative forms

* enemie (obsolete)

### Etymology

From Middle English enemy, enemye, enmy, borrowed from Old French enemi, anemi (Modern French ennemi), from Latin inimīcus, from in- (“not”) + amīcus (“friend”). Displaced Middle English feend (“enemy”), from Old English fēond (“enemy”), which survived into Modern English as fiend, but with a different meaning.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛnəmi/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: en‧e‧my

### Noun

enemy (plural enemies)
* Someone who is hostile to, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, or intends injury to someone else.
    Synonyms: foe, unfriend, adversary, nemesis, backfriend
    Antonyms: ally, friend
    under enemy duress
    He made a lot of enemies after reducing the working hours in his department.
    You may not want any enemies, but sometimes, your enemies choose you.
** 2005, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, spoken by Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen):If you're not with me, then you're my enemy.
** 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:Garrus: Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together. Wrex: My people have a saying: Seek the enemy of your enemy, and you will find a friend.
** 2022 March 13, Yevgenia Albats, 10:01 from the start, in Journalist risking jail to report from inside Russia speaks out‎, CNN:I am a known enemy and I cannot say more than I already said. And my books and my articles and my magazine- whatever could happen to the publication has already happened. What else? They can kill me. OK, you know, nobody promised me that I'm going to live forever.
* A hostile force or nation; a fighting member of such a force or nation.
    Synonyms: foe, adversary, nemesis
    Antonyms: ally, friend
    Rally together against a common enemy.
* Something harmful or threatening to another
** 2012, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time‎:The very thing the 16 skiers and snowboarders had sought — fresh, soft snow — instantly became the enemy. Somewhere above, a pristine meadow cracked in the shape of a lightning bolt, slicing a slab nearly 200 feet across and 3 feet deep. Gravity did the rest.
* (attributive) Of, by, relating to, or belonging to an enemy.
    The building was destroyed by enemy bombing.
* (video games) A non-player character that tries to harm the player.
    Synonym: mob

#### Usage notes

* Singular and plural verbs can be used interchangeably when referring to sense 2, e.g. the enemy are retreating vs. the enemy is retreating.

#### Derived terms

* archenemy
* be one's own worst enemy
* better is the enemy of good
* class enemy
* enemedia
* enemy action
* enemy combatant
* enemydom
* enemyhood
* enemy image
* enemyism
* enemyless
* enemy-like
* enemylike
* enemy line
* enemyness
* enemy of the people
* enemy of the state
* enemyship
* enemyslash
* enemywise
* frenemy
* how goes the enemy
* let the perfect be the enemy of the good
* make the perfect the enemy of the good
* my enemy's enemy is my friend
* nonenemy
* no plan survives contact with the enemy
* perfection is the enemy of good
* perfect is the enemy of good
* perfect is the enemy of good enough
* public enemy
* public enemy number one
* the best is the enemy of the good
* the better is the enemy of the good
* the enemy of my enemy is my friend
* the enemy of your enemy is your friend
* the perfect is the enemy of the good
* worst enemy

#### Related terms

* enmity
* inimical

#### Translations

Abkhaz: аӷа (ağa), (old spelling) аҕа (ağa)
Adyghe: пыи (pəji)
Afrikaans: vyand
Alabama: ātikànko
Albanian: shemër (sq) f, armik (sq) m, anmik m
Amharic: ጠላት ? (ṭälat)
Apache:
Western Apache: indaa
Arabic: عَدُوّ (ar) m (ʕaduww), عَدُوَّة f (ʕaduwwa)
Egyptian Arabic: عدو m (ʕadu)
Armenian: թշնամի (hy) (tʻšnami), ոսոխ (hy) (osox)
Aromanian: dushman m
Assamese: শত্ৰু (xotru), দুছমন (dusomon)
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܕܸܫ̃ܡܸܢ m or f (dižmin), ܒܥܸܠܕܒ݂ܵܒ݂ܵܐ m (bʿildwāwā), ܒܥܸܠܕܒ݂ܵܒ݂ܬܵܐ f (bʿildwāwtā)
Asturian: enemigu m, enemiga f
Atong (India): bawbyl
Avar: тушман (tušman)
Azerbaijani: düşmən (az), yağı
Baluchi: دژمن (dužman), دشمن (dušman)
Bashkir: дошман (doşman)
Bats: მასთხოვ (mastxov)
Belarusian: во́раг m (vórah), праці́ўнік m (pracíŭnik), праці́ўніца f (pracíŭnica)
Bengali: শত্রু (bn) (śotru), দুশমন (bn) (duśmon)
Bikol Central: kaiwal (bcl)
Breton: enebour (br) m
Bulgarian: враг (bg) m (vrag), неприя́тел (bg) m (neprijátel), неприя́телка f (neprijátelka), проти́вник (bg) m (protívnik), проти́вница f (protívnica), проти́вничка f (protívnička), душма́нин (bg) m (dušmánin), душма́нка f (dušmánka)
Burmese: ရန်သူ (my) (ransu), ငြိုးသူရန်ဖက် (ngrui:suranhpak), ရန်ဖက် (ranhpak)
Buryat: дайсан (dajsan)
Carpathian Rusyn: во́рог m (vóroh)
Catalan: enemic (ca) m
Cebuano: kaaway
Central Huishui Hmong: yeeb ncuab
Chechen: мостагӏ (mostağ)
Cherokee: ᏓᎾᏓᏍᎧᎩ (danadaskagi)
Chichewa: mdani
Chinese:
Cantonese: 敵人 / 敌人 (dik$^6$ jan$^4$), 仇敵 / 仇敌 (sau$^4$ dik$^6$), 敵 / 敌 (dik$^6$)
Dungan: дижын (diřɨn), дўшыман (dwšɨman)
Mandarin: 敵人 / 敌人 (zh) (dírén), 仇敵 / 仇敌 (zh) (chóudí), 敵 / 敌 (zh) (dí)
Chuvash: тӑшман (tăšman)
Corsican: nemicu
Crimean Tatar: duşman
Czech: nepřítel (cs) m, nepřítelkyně f, nepřítelka f
Dalmatian: nemaic m
Danish: fjende (da) c
Dinka: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: vijand (nl) m, tegenstander (nl) m
Egyptian: (ḫftj)
Erzya: душман (dušman)
Esperanto: malamiko
Estonian: vaenlane (et)
Even: булэн (ʙulən)
Evenki: булэн (bulən)
Faroese: fíggindi m, óvinur m
Finnish: vihollinen (fi), vainolainen (fi)
French: ennemi (fr) m, ennemie (fr) f
Middle French: ennemy m
Old French: enemi m
Friulian: nimì m, inimì m
Galician: inimigo (gl) m, inimiga f
Georgian: მტერი (mṭeri)
German: Feind (de) m, Feindin (de) f, Gegner (de) m, Gegnerin (de) f
Gothic: 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 m (fijands)
Greek: εχθρός (el) m (echthrós)
Ancient: ἐχθρός m (ekhthrós)
Gujarati: દુશ્મન m (duśman), શત્રુ (gu) m (śatru)
Hausa: maƙiyi
Hawaiian: hoa paio
Hebrew: אוֹיֵב (he) m (oyév), שׂוֹנֵא m (soné)
Hindi: दुश्मन (hi) m (duśman), शत्रु (hi) m (śatru), वैरी (hi) m (vairī), द्वेषी (hi) m (dveṣī), बैरी (hi) m (bairī), विरोधी (hi) m (virodhī), विपक्षी (hi) m (vipakṣī), अरि (hi) m (ari)
Hungarian: ellenség (hu)
Icelandic: óvinur (is) m
Ido: enemiko (io)
Indonesian: musuh (id), lawan (id)
Ingrian: viholain
Interlingua: inimico
Irish: namhaid (ga) m
Italian: nemico (it) m, nemica (it) f
Japanese: 敵 (ja) (てき, teki, かたき, kataki), 仇敵 (ja) (きゅうてき, kyūteki)
Javanese: mungsuh (jv)
Jeju: 원쉬 (wonswi)
Kalmyk: дәәсн (dääsn)
Kanakanabu: cangiin
Kannada: ಶತ್ರು (kn) (śatru)
Karakhanid: يَغىٖ (yaɣï)
Karelian: vihamies
Kashubian: warg m, wróg m
Kazakh: жау (jau), дұшпан (dūşpan), қас (kk) (qas)
Khiamniungan Naga: sàh
Khmer: សត្រូវ (km) (sattrəw), ខ្មាំង (km) (khmang)
Komi-Permyak: вӧрӧг (vörög)
Korean: 적(敵) (ko) (jeok), 구적(仇敵) (ko) (gujeok), 원수(怨讐) (ko) (wonsu), 원쑤(怨讐) (ko) (wonssu) (North Korea)
Kumyk: душман (duşman)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: دوژمن (dujmin)
Northern Kurdish: dijmin (ku)
Kyrgyz: жоо (ky) (joo), душман (ky) (duşman), тушман (ky) (tuşman)
Lao: ສັດຕູ (sat tū)
Latgalian: īnaidnīks m
Latin: inimīcus m
Latvian: ienaidnieks m, ienaidniece f, naidnieks m, naidniece f
Laz: დუშმენი (duşmeni), დუშმანი (duşmani)
Lithuanian: priešas (lt) m, priešė f
Lombard: nemis (lmo)
Low German:
German Low German: Feend m, Feendin f, Fiend m, Fiendin f, Gegensmann m, Gegensfro f
Lü: ᦶᦉᧆᦏᦜᦴ (ṡaedṫhl̇uu)
Luxembourgish: feind ?
Macedonian: непријател m (neprijatel), непријателка f (neprijatelka), душман m (dušman), душманка f (dušmanka)
Malagasy: dovy (mg)
Malay: musuh (ms), lawan (ms), seteru
Malayalam: ശത്രു (ml) (śatru)
Maltese: għadu m
Manx: noid m
Maori: hoariri
Marathi: शत्रू (mr) m (śatrū)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: тушман (tušman)
Middle English: enemy, fo, feend
Moksha: душман (dušman)
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: дайсан (mn) (dajsan)
Mongolian: ᠳᠠᠶᠢᠰᠤᠨ (dayisun)
Navajo: anaʼí
Neapolitan: nemmìco m
Nepali: शत्रु (ne) m (śatru), दुश्मन m (duśman)
Ngazidja Comorian: âdui ?
Norman: enn'mîn m (Jersey)
North Frisian: Fiind c (Sylt)
Northern Sami: vašálaš
Norwegian:
Bokmål: fiende (no) m, uvenn m
Nynorsk: fiende m, uven m, uvenn m
Occitan: enemic (oc) m
Old Occitan: enemic m
Odia: ଶତ୍ରୁ (or) (śatru)
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: врагъ m (vragŭ)
Glagolitic: ⰲⱃⰰⰳⱏ m (vragŭ)
Old East Slavic: ворогъ m (vorogŭ)
Old English: fēond m
Old Javanese: mungsuh
Old Norse: fjándi m, fjándmaðr m, óvinr m
Old Turkic: 𐰖𐰍𐰃 (y¹ǧi /⁠yaɣï⁠/)
Oromo: diina
Ossetian: знаг (znag), фыдгул (fydgul)
Ottoman Turkish: دشمن (düşman), یاغی (yağı)
Pali: sattu m
Pannonian Rusyn: ворог m (voroh), нєприятель m (njeprijatelʹ)
Pashto: دوښمن m (dux̌man), دښمن (ps) m (dox̌man)
Persian:
Dari: دُشْمَن (dušman), خَصْم (xasm), عَدُو (adū)
Iranian Persian: دُشْمَن (došman), خَصْم (xasm), عَدو (adu)
Plautdietsch: Fient m
Polish: wróg (pl) m, nieprzyjaciel (pl) m, nieprzyjaciółka f, przeciwnik (pl) m, przeciwniczka (pl) f
Portuguese: inimigo (pt) m, inimiga (pt) f
Punjabi: ਦੁਸ਼ਮਣ m (duśmaṇ)
Quechua: awqa (qu)
Romagnol: nemìg m
Romanian: dușman (ro) m, inamic (ro) m, vrăjmaș (ro) m, inamică f
Russian: враг (ru) m (vrag), проти́вник (ru) m (protívnik), проти́вница (ru) f (protívnica), неприя́тель (ru) m (neprijátelʹ), неприя́тельница (ru) f (neprijátelʹnica), не́друг (ru) m (nédrug), во́рог (ru) m (vórog) (dated or poetic)
Samoan: fili
Sanskrit: अरि (sa) m (ari), शत्रु (sa) m (śatru), विपक्ष (sa) m (vipakṣa)
Santali: ᱫᱩᱥᱢᱚᱱ (dusmôn)
Sardinian: anemigu m
Scottish Gaelic: nàmhaid m, nàmh m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: нѐпријатељ m, непријатѐљица f, ду̏шман / ду̀шма̄н m, ду̏шманин m
Roman: nèprijatelj (sh) m, neprijatèljica (sh) f, dȕšman / dùšmān (sh) m, dȕšmanin (sh) m
Shor: ырчы (ırçı), ӧштӱг (öştüg)
Sicilian: nimicu (scn) m, nemicu (scn) m
Sidamo: diina
Sindhi: دشمن ?
Sinhalese: සතුරා (si) ? (saturā)
Slovak: nepriateľ m, nepriateľkyňa f, nepriateľka f
Slovene: sovražnik (sl) m, sovražnica f
Somali: cadow (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: njepśijaśel m
Upper Sorbian: njepřećel m, wróh m
Spanish: enemigo (es) m, enemiga (es) f, tirios y troyanos m pl
Sundanese: musuh
Svan: ამახვ (amaxv)
Swahili: adui (sw) class 5/6
Swedish: fiende (sv) c
Tagalog: kaaway
Tajik: душман (tg) (dušman), аду (tg) (adu), хасм (xasm)
Tamil: இரிஞன் (ta) (iriñaṉ), சத்துரு (ta) (catturu), சதேரன் (ta) (catēraṉ), தெவ்வன் (ta) (tevvaṉ), பகைவன் (ta) (pakaivaṉ), பொருநன் (ta) (porunaṉ), வேரியன் (ta) (vēriyaṉ)
Tatar: дошман (tt) (doşman), яу (tt) (yaw)
Telugu: శత్రువు (te) (śatruvu)
Thai: ศัตรู (th) (sàt-dtruu)
Tibetan: དགྲ་བོ (dgra bo)
Tigrinya: ጻላኢ (ṣalaʾi)
Tocharian B: sāṃ
Tok Pisin: birua
Turkish: düşman (tr), hasım (tr), yağı (tr)
Turkmen: duşman
Tuvan: дайзын (dayzın)
Udi: дуьшмаьн (düšmän)
Udmurt: тушмон (tušmon)
Ugaritic: 𐎛𐎁 (ỉb), 𐎌𐎗𐎗 (šrr)
Ukrainian: во́рог (uk) m (vóroh), проти́вник (uk) m (protývnyk), проти́вниця f (protývnycja), супроти́вник m (suprotývnyk), супроти́вниця f (suprotývnycja), не́друг m (nédruh)
Urdu: دُشْمَن (ur) m (duśman), عَدُو m ('adū)
Uyghur: دۈشمەن (ug) (düshmen)
Uzbek: dushman (uz), xasm (uz) (dated or folklore)
Venetan: nemigo (vec) m, inimigo m
Vietnamese: kẻ thù (vi), kẻ địch (vi), địch (vi)
Volapük: neflen (vo)
Welsh: gelyn (cy) m
Yakut: өстөөх (östööq)
Yiddish: פֿײַנד m (faynd), שׂונא m (soyne)
Yoruba: ọ̀tá
Zazaki: dışmen (diq)
Zulu: izitha :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* nemesis

### Verb

enemy (third-person singular simple present enemies, present participle enemying, simple past and past participle enemied)
* To make an enemy of.
** 1963, The Castles and the Crown: Spain, 1451-1555, page 51:These prelates and nobles, seeing themselves dispossessed by the death of this king don Alfonso, to whom they had adhered, and enemied with the king don Enrique his brother, whom they had deserted, were in great fear, dreading the indignation of the king, whom by letters and words they had much injured; and they found no other remedy for their defense but to continue the division which they had begun in the realm, raising for queen of it the princess doña Isabel in place of her brother.
** 2009, Adam Stephen Alber, Greater Than My Thoughts: A Glimpse Of My Soul, page 64:But rather the life He has lived People he met Befriended and enemied
** 2014, Robert Shanafelt, Nathan W. Pino, Rethinking Serial Murder, Spree Killing, and Atrocities, page 184:Bureaucracy and wider features of a division of labor also facilitates the “othering” and “enemying” associated with systemic violence and makes possible the professionalization of atrocity.
** 2016, Elif M. Gokcigdem, Fostering Empathy Through Museums, page 45:But these choices came with point values: friending someone who friended you gave each player fifteen points; friending someone who enemied you gave the enemy-er a whopping twenty-five points but lost the friend-er five points; and if both players enemied each other, both got five points.

### Anagrams

* Yemen, yemen

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* anemie, elmy, enemi, enemye, enimy, enme, enmie, enmij, enmy, enmye, enmye, enymy

### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French enemi, anemi, from Latin inimīcus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛnɛmiː/, /ˈɛnmiː/

### Noun

enemy (plural enemys)
* An enemy, foe, or adversary:
** An opponent of the true religion.
** A hostile combatant.
** (Christianity) The Devil; Satan.
* A malign or hostile force.
* Hostility; enmity.

#### Related terms

* enemyte

#### Descendants

* English: enemy
* Scots: enemy

#### References

* “enemī, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Old French
### Noun

enemy oblique singular, m (oblique plural enemys, nominative singular enemys, nominative plural enemy)
* Alternative form of enemi

#### Descendants

* → English: enemy