enemy English · revision 3806

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1225|origins=la inimīcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈen.ə.mi/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|enemi]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|enemi|t=enemy, adversary, foe; demon, the Devil]] (modern French ennemi), earlier inimi,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|inimīcus|t=an enemy]], literally “an unfriend”, a noun use of the adjective “hostile”,^(Etymonline) from [[m|la|in-|t=not]] and [[m|la|amīcus|t=friend]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) which is related to [[m|la|amāre|t=to love]].^(Etymonline) Italian nemico and Spanish enemigo have the same source.^(Etymonline) It is related to [[inimical]], [[amicable]] and [[amiable]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who hates and seeks to harm another: early 13th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) about 1225 in King Horn according to Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) and before 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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;^(Etymonline) of the opposing military forces as a whole it is from about 1600.^(Etymonline) The adjective is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) Something that works against something else, as an ''enemy of'' good health, is from 1398.^(OED 1989) ''Nobody's enemy but one's own'' is from 1592,^(OED 1989) and death as ''the last enemy'', after 1 Corinthians, from 1885.^(OED 1989) In Scots and Shropshire dialect, ''the enemy'' was a name for the Devil.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1225 – a foe.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – an enemy of God.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – adjective.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – the Devil; a member of a hostile force.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1592 – ''nobody's enemy but one's own''.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – the opposing forces as a whole.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who hates or opposes another and wishes to harm them; a [[foe]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A hostile nation or armed force, or a member of one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something harmful or destructive: ''alcohol was his greatest enemy''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or belonging to a hostile power: ''enemy aircraft''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nonenemy]]

+ * [[archenemy]]

+ * [[public enemy number one]]

+ * [[public enemy]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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”.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}