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fiend - 4 dictionary results

fiend

  [feend]
Use fiend in a Sentence
–noun
1. Satan; the devil.
2. any evil spirit; demon.
3. a diabolically cruel or wicked person.
4. a person or thing that causes mischief or annoyance: Those children are little fiends.
5. Informal. a person who is extremely addicted to some pernicious habit: an opium fiend.
6. Informal. a person who is excessively interested in some game, sport, etc.; fan; buff: a bridge fiend.
7. a person who is highly skilled or gifted in something: a fiend at languages.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME feend, OE fēond; c. G Feind, ON fjandr, Goth fijands foe, orig. prp. of fijan to hate

Related forms:
fiendlike, adjective

Synonyms:
3. monster, savage, brute, beast, devil.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fiend
fiend   (fēnd)   
n.  
    1. An evil spirit; a demon.
    2. The Devil; Satan.
    3. A diabolically evil or wicked person.
  2. Informal One who is addicted to something: a dope fiend.
  3. Informal One who is completely absorbed in or obsessed with a given job or pastime: a crossword-puzzle fiend.
  4. Informal One who is particularly adept at something: a fiend with computers.

[Middle English, from Old English fēond; see pē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fiend

Fiend\, n. [OE. fend, find, fiend, feond, fiend, foe, AS. fe['o]nd; akin to OS. f[=i]ond, D. vijand enemy, OHG. f[=i]ant, G. feind, Icel. fj[=a]nd, Sw. & Dan. fiende, Goth. fijands; orig. p. pr. of a verb meaning to hate, AS. fe['o]n, fe['o]gan, OHG. f[=i]?n, Goth. fijan, Skr. p[=i]y to scorn; prob. akin to E. feud a quarrel. [root]81. Cf. Foe, Friend.] An implacable or malicious foe; one who is diabolically wicked or cruel; an infernal being; -- applied specifically to the devil or a demon.

Into this wild abyss the wary fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while. --Milton.

O woman! woman! when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend. --Pope.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fiend
Spanish: demonio,
German: der Teufel,
Japanese: 悪魔
More Translations »

fiend 
O.E. feond "enemy, foe," originally prp. of feogan "to hate," from P.Gmc. *fijæjan (cf. O.N. fjandi, O.H.G. fiant, Goth. fijands, like the O.E. word all prp. forms), from PIE base *pei-/*pi- "to blame, revile" (cf. Goth. faian "to blame;" see passion). As spelling suggests, it was originally the opposite of friend, but the word began to be used in O.E. for "Satan" (as the "enemy of mankind"), which shifted its sense to "diabolical person" (c.1220). The old sense of the word devolved to foe, then to the borrowed enemy. For spelling with -ie- see field. Meaning "devotee (of whatever is indicated)," cf. dope fiend, is from 1865.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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