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fiend

noun
/ˈfiːnd/

Etymology

From Middle English fend, feend (“enemy; demon”), from Old English fēond (“enemy”), Proto-West Germanic *fijand, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz. Cognates Cognate with Scots fient (“fiend”), Saterland Frisian Fäind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Cimbrian faint (“enemy, fiend”), Dutch vijand (“enemy”), German Feind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Vilamovian faeind, fajnd (“enemy”), Yiddish פֿײַנד (faynd), פֿײַנט (faynt, “enemy”), Danish fjende (“adversary, enemy, foe”), Icelandic fjandi (“enemy; fiend, demon, devil”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fiende (“enemy”), Old Norse fjándi (“enemy; devil”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fiands), 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fijands, “enemy, foe”). The Old Norse and Gothic terms are present participles of the corresponding verbs fjá/𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fijan, “to hate”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate”) (compare Sanskrit पीयति (pī́yati, “(he) reviles”)).

  1. derived from *peh₁-✻
  2. inherited from *fijandz✻
  3. inherited from *fijand✻
  4. inherited from fēond — “enemy”
  5. inherited from fend

Definitions

  1. A devil or demon

    A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.

    • what God or Feend, or ſpirit of the earth, Or Monſter turned to a manly ſhape, Or of what mould or mettel he be made, […]
    • Many hold too that he was acquainted with forbidden arts, and used to carry on an intercourse with the fiends and old women that raised storms, and such like.
    • Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!

  2. A very evil person.

  3. An enemy

    An enemy; a foe.

    • We waited for our fiend to arrive.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. The enemy of mankind, specifically, the Devil

      The enemy of mankind, specifically, the Devil; Satan.

      • He proffered a pact to Satan, calling upon the Fiend and working himself into a frenzy - but his infernal majesty failed to respond.
      • At the confirmation ceremony the bishop would lay his hands on the child and tie around its forehead a linen band […]. This was believed to strengthen him against the assaults of the fiend […]

    2. An addict or fanatic.

      • dope fiend
      • He's been a jazz fiend since his teenage years.
      • Now the sign of the Lamb is a modern daub, not that which hung like a "banner on the outward wall," when the celebrated "cigar-fiend" used to haunt the hostelrie consuming incredible quantities of the best Havanas.

    3. To yearn

      To yearn; to be desperate.

      • I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you / And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm fiendin'
      • I am back in San Francisco at the Clift Hotel, fiending for my fix.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fiend. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA