fiend English · revision 2450

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfiːnd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|feend]],^(RHWU) [[inh|ang|fēond|t=enemy, foe]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) originally the present participle of [[ang|fēogan|t=to hate]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Cognates include German ''Feind'' and Dutch ''vijand'' “enemy”, Old Norse ''fjandi'' and Gothic ''fijands''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) The word was formed in parallel with [[friend]]: both come from Germanic participles meaning “hating” and “loving”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An enemy, a foe (Old English, as early as ''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Old English the word was applied to the Devil, the arch-enemy of mankind, and to evil spirits in general;^(OED 1989) it became the ordinary word for a demon, while the sense “enemy” died out.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) From about 1220 it was used of a person of superhuman wickedness or cruelty.^(OED 1989) Its modern informal senses—an addict, a fanatic, someone very skilled at something—grew out of jocular exaggeration.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 975 – an enemy, a foe (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1000 – the Devil; an evil spirit.^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1220 – a person of superhuman wickedness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1529 – ''fiendish''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1621 – jocularly, a person or thing causing mischief.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An evil spirit; a demon; or, with ''the'', the Devil.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A cruel or wicked person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' An addict.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person obsessed with a pursuit or pastime.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person particularly skilled at something.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fiendlike]]

+ * [[archfiend]]

+ * [[fiendish]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[friend]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}