Etymologically
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enemy

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈen.ə.mi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enemi,[2][3] borrowed from Old French enemi (“enemy, adversary, foe; demon, the Devil”) (modern French ennemi), earlier inimi,[4][3] from Latin inimīcus (“an enemy”), literally “an unfriend”, a noun use of the adjective “hostile”,[4] from in- (“not”) and amīcus (“friend”),[4][5][6] which is related to amāre (“to love”).[4] Italian nemico and Spanish enemigo have the same source.[4] It is related to inimical, amicable and amiable.[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who hates and seeks to harm another: early 13th century in Etymonline,[4] about 1225 in King Horn according to Barnhart,[3] and before 1300 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

From about 1300 it meant an adversary of God, an unbeliever; in the late 14th century it also meant the Devil, and a member of an armed hostile force in a war or feud;[4] of the opposing military forces as a whole it is from about 1600.[4] The adjective is from the mid-14th century.[4] Something that works against something else, as an enemy of good health, is from 1398.[7] Nobody's enemy but one's own is from 1592,[7] and death as the last enemy, after 1 Corinthians, from 1885.[7] In Scots and Shropshire dialect, the enemy was a name for the Devil.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – a foe.[3][4]
  • c. 1300 – an enemy of God.[4]
  • mid-14th century – adjective.[4]
  • late 14th century – the Devil; a member of a hostile force.[4]
  • 1592 – nobody's enemy but one's own.[7]
  • c. 1600 – the opposing forces as a whole.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who hates or opposes another and wishes to harm them; a foe.
  2. A hostile nation or armed force, or a member of one.
  3. Something harmful or destructive: alcohol was his greatest enemy.

Adjective

  1. Of or belonging to a hostile power: enemy aircraft.

Word family

  • nonenemy
  • archenemy
  • public enemy number one
  • public enemy
  • enmity
  • inimical
  • amicable
  • amiable
  • amity
  • amour

Usage notes

The American Heritage contrasts enemy with foe and opponent, which share the central meaning “one who opposes another”.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin