evil
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ē-vəl
enpr: ē-vĭl
ipa: /ˈiːvɪl/
ipa: /ˈiːvl̩/
ipa: /ˈivəl/
ipa: [ˈivəɫ]
ipa: [ˈivɫ̩]
rhymes: -iːvəl
Forms: form: evils
Etymology: From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂up(h₁)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h₂wep(h₁)-, *h₂wop(h₁)- (“treat badly”). 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”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch euvel (“evil”), German übel (“bad, evil”), German Low German övel (“evil”), Luxembourgish iwwel (“queasy, nauseous; bad”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-ⁱ, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”).
Senses: examples: text: The evils of society include murder and theft.
text: Evil lacks spirituality, hence its need for mind control.
text: The heart of the sons of men is full of evil.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 9:3:
text: The preposterous altruism too![…]Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: IS ANYTHING more obvious than the presence of evil in the universe? Its nagging, prehensile tentacles project into every level of human existence. We may debate the origin of evil, but only a victim of superficial optimism would debate its reality. Evil is stark, grim, and colossally real.
ref: 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Death of Evil upon the Seashore”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC, page 71:
glosses: Moral badness; wickedness; malevolence; the forces or behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good.
examples: text: evils which our own misdeeds have wrought
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: The evil that men do lives after them.
ref: 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: [The disease]Tis call'd the Euill.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
text: He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil.
ref: 1711 March 24 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, March 13, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 329; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume IV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
glosses: A malady or disease; especially in combination, as in king's evil, colt evil.
Derived terms: axis of evil
colt evil
evildoer
evildoing
evilist
evilology
evilworker
fox evil
greater evil
greater of two evils
king's evil
lesser evil
lesser of two evils
lousy evil
money is the root of all evil
necessary evil
poll evil
problem of evil
quarter-evil
root of all evil
snowshoe evil
social evil
stag-evil
sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof
the love of money is the root of all evil