O.E. yfel (Kentish evel) "bad, vicious," from P.Gmc. *ubilaz (cf. O.Saxon ubil, Goth. ubils), from PIE *upelo-, giving the word an original sense of "uppity, overreaching bounds" which slowly worsened. "In OE., as in all the other early Teut. langs., exc. Scandinavian, this word is the most comprehensive adjectival expression of disapproval, dislike or disparagement" [OED]. Evil was the word the Anglo-Saxons used where we would use bad, cruel, unskillful, defective (adj.), or harm, crime, misfortune, disease. The meaning "extreme moral wickedness" was in O.E., but did not become the main sense until 18c. Evil eye (L. oculus malus) was O.E. eage yfel.
evil As used by a hacker, implies that some system, program, person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not worth the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives in the cretinous, losing, brain-damaged series, "evil" does not imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of goals or design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's. This usage is more an aesthetic and engineering judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense. "We thought about adding a Blue Glue interface but decided it was too evil to deal with." "TECO is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos." Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/. Compare evil and rude. [The Jargon File] (1994-12-12)
E*vil\a. [OE. evel, evil, ifel, uvel, AS. yfel; akin to OFries, evel, D. euvel, OS. & OHG. ubil, G. ["u]bel, Goth. ubils, and perh. to E. over.]1. Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous; not good; worthless or deleterious; poor; as, an evil beast; and evil plant; an evil crop. A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit. --Matt. vii. 18. 2. Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life, When death's approach is seen so terrible. --Shak. 3. Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous; as, evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days. Because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. --Deut. xxii. 19. The owl shrieked at thy birth -- an evil sign. --Shak. Evil news rides post, while good news baits. --Milton. Evil eye, an eye which inflicts injury by some magical or fascinating influence. It is still believed by the ignorant and superstitious that some persons have the supernatural power of injuring by a look. It almost led him to believe in the evil eye. --J. H. Newman. Evil speaking, speaking ill of others; calumny; censoriousness. The evil one, the Devil; Satan. Note: Evil is sometimes written as the first part of a compound (with or without a hyphen). In many cases the compounding need not be insisted on. Examples: Evil doer or evildoer, evil speaking or evil-speaking, evil worker, evil wishing, evil-hearted, evil-minded. Syn: Mischieveous; pernicious; injurious; hurtful; destructive; wicked; sinful; bad; corrupt; perverse; wrong; vicious; calamitous.
E"vil\ ([=e]"v'l) n. 1. Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm; -- opposed to good. Evils which our own misdeeds have wrought. --Milton. The evil that men do lives after them. --Shak. 2. Moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offence; wickedness; depravity. The heart of the sons of men is full of evil. --Eccl. ix. 3. 3. malady or disease; especially in the phrase king's evil, the scrofula. [R.] --Shak. He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the evil. --Addison.
E"vil\, adv. In an evil manner; not well; ill; badly; unhappily; injuriously; unkindly. --Shak. It went evil with his house. --1 Chron. vii. 23. The Egyptians evil entreated us, and affected us. --Deut. xxvi. 6.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [ee-vuh
