Pronunciation: /ˈiːv(ə)l/
Forms: OE–ME yfel (in inflexions yf(e)l-), (ME ifel, ME efel, yfell, ME ywel(l, ME ufel, ME uvel(e, ME ivel, (ME ȝevel, ME ivil), ME–15 evel(l(e, (ME ewelle, hevelle, 15 ewil, yell), ME–15 evill(e, -yl(l(e, yvel(l(e, (15 yevill), ME– evil.(Show Less)
Etymology: Middle English uvel (ü), Old English yfel = Old Saxon uƀil, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch evel (Dutch euvel), Old High German ubil, upil (German übel), Gothic ubils < Old Germanic *uƀilo-z; usually referred to the root of up, over; on this view the primary sense would be either ‘exceeding due measure’ or ‘overstepping proper limits’.
The form evel, whence the mod. form descends, appears in Middle English first as west midland and Kentish, but in 15th cent. had become general. The conditions under which early Middle English /i/ or /y/ became /eː/ , the antecedent of modern English /iː/ , are not clearly determined; the present word and weevil seem to be the only examples in which this change was other than local; obsolete and dialect instances are yeve = ‘give’, leve = ‘live’, easle n. (Other apparent examples are due to Old English forms with eo, resulting < u- or o- umlaut.)
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A. adj. The antithesis of good adj., adv., and n. in all its principal senses.
In Old English, as in all the other early Germanic langs. exc. Scandinavian, this word is the most comprehensive adjectival expression of disapproval, dislike, or disparagement. In mod. colloquial English it is little used, such currency as it has being due to literary influence. In quite familiar speech the adj. is commonly superseded by bad; the n. is somewhat more frequent, but chiefly in the widest senses, the more specific senses being expressed by other words, as harm, injury, misfortune, disease, etc.
I. Bad in a positive sense.
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1. Morally depraved, bad, wicked, vicious. Also absol. Obs. as applied to persons.
971 Blickl. Hom. 37 We sceolan‥ure heortan clænsian from yflum eþohtum.
971 Blickl. Hom. 161 Hi cyningum & yfelum ricum ealdormannum wiþstandan mihtan.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1742 To bærnenn all þatt ifell iss. Aweȝȝ inn hise þeowwess.
1398 J. de Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietat. Rerum (1495) xv. cxvii. 532 Pentapol‥hathe that name of 5 cytees of euel men that were dystroyed wyth fyre of heuen.
c1440 Gesta Rom. (Harl.) x. 31 Ivel men, þe which neyþer lovith god, neyþer hire neghebowre.
c1460 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 8106 Lothe is Eville mannys soule & body boþe.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xxi. 41 He will cruellye destroye those evyll persons.
1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel tr. Caradoc Hist. Cambria 16 Sigebert‥for his Euill behaviour was expelled.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Gen. viii. 21 The imagination of mans heart is euil from his youth.
1794 S. T. Coleridge Relig. Musings in Wks. (1847) I. 94 She‥from the dark embrace all evil things Brought forth and nurtured: mitred Atheism!
1817 W. Selwyn Abridgem. Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1156 Imputing to a person an evil inclination.
1871 S. Smiles Character i. 10 Good deeds act and react on the doers of them; and so do evil.
absol.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 23 Alle men shullen cume to libben echeliche‥þe gode on eche blisse‥þ e uuele on eche wowe.
c1300 Cursor M. 25249 (Cott. Galba MS.) , On domesday‥þe euill sall fra þe gude be drawn.
1827 R. Pollok Course of Time II. x. 235 To the evil‥Eternal recompence of shame and wo.
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2. Doing or tending to do harm; hurtful, mischievous, prejudicial. Of advice, etc.: Misleading. Of an omen, etc.: Boding ill.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 3 Heo urnen on-ȝein him al þa hebreisce men mid godere and summe mid ufele þeonke.
?c1225 (1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C. 6) (1972) 42 Is hit nu swa ouer vuel for tototin vtward.
c1275 (1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1271 Ah þa heora fader wes dæd þe sunen duden vuelne [c1300 Otho vuele] ræd.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 593 Thurghe evelle conceille was slayne‥the Erle of Arundelle.
c1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 330 Evyl ensaumple of opyn synne.
a1400 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 4635 He prisoned was wiþ euel rede.
a1400–50 Alexander 703 Þe euyll sterne of Ercules how egirly it soroȝes.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 41 It is not yvel to putte a litil opium to þe oile of þe rosis.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 808 Hym shulnot harme non hevelle thyng.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 4 Gouernauncis of the clergie whiche summe of the comoun peple‥iugen..to be yuele.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 217/2 Evyll tourne, maluais tour.
1584 D. Powel in H. Llwyd & D. Powel tr. Caradoc Hist. Cambria 99 King Edward by euill counsell‥banished Algar.
1587 L. Mascall Bk. Cattell: Oxen (1627) 36 Yeugh is euill for cattell to eate.
1595 Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 v. vi. 44 The owle shrikt at thy birth, an euill signe.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Gen. xxxvii. 20 Some euill beast hath deuoured him.
1623 W. Drummond Flowres of Sion 40 Weigh not how wee‥(Euill to our selues) against thy Lawes rebell.
1655 N. Culpeper et al. tr. L. Riverius Pract. Physick i. xvi. 57 In a great Headach it is evil to have the outward parts cold.
1846 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters II. 129 The neglect of art‥has been of evil consequence to the Christian world.
1868 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. I. 403 The evil system of pluralities.
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3. Uses partaking of senses A. 1, A. 2:
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a. evil will n. depraved intention or purpose; also, desire for another's harm; = ill will n. rare in mod. use.
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xxi. 157 He of yfelum willan ne esyngað.
a1300 Cursor M. 1065 (Cott.) , For caym gaf him wit iuel will.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 66 Þe dyeuel beginþ þet uer of tyene and euel wyl uor to becleppe.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. v. 121 For enuye and yuel wille is yuel to defye.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxix. 142 The duke‥pardoned them all his yuell wyll.
1563 2nd Tome Homelyes Rogat. Week iii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) ii. 492 Cast we off all malice & all evil will.
a1569 M. Coverdale Fruitful Lessons (1593) sig. Gg, Many afflictions, much euill will‥shal happen vnto you.
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales iii. ii. 65 He [Piso] increased the euill will of the people towards him.
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b. evil angel, spirit, etc. Also, the evil one (†Sc. the evil man): the Devil.
c950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 26 Forðon yfel wiht is.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Gjv, Sundrie illusions of euyl spirites.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Luke vii. 21 Hee cured many‥of euill spirits.
a1616 Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 333 Bru. Speake to me, what thou art. Ghost. Thy euill Spirit, Brutus?
1648 Acts Gen. Assemb. 463 (Jam.) Whilest some fell asleep, and were carelesse‥the evil man brought in prelacy.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost ix. 463 That space the Evil one abstracted stood From his own evil.
1681–6 J. Scott Christian Life (1747) III. 347 The Ministry of the evil Angels to him.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. i. 24 They did not suppose those wise Men‥had an evil Spirit.
1825 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zicci 2 The Evil Spirit is pulling you towards him.
1841 E. W. Lane tr. Thousand & One Nights I. 117 Sakhr was an evil Jinnee.
1881 Bible (R.V.) Matt. vi. 13 Deliver us from the evil one.
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c. Of repute or estimation: Unfavourable. evil tongue n. a malicious or slanderous speaker. arch.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 20 Of him in holy kirke men said euelle sawe.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. vi. 8 By yuel fame and good fame.
c1450 Myre 58 Wymmones serues thow moste forsake, Of euele fame leste they the make.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. xxviii. 19 Wel is him that is kepte from an euell tonge.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Deut. xxii. 19 He hath brought vp an euill name vpon a virgine of Israel.
a1891 Mod. Newspaper, The defendant was arrested in a house of evil repute.
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4.
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a. Causing discomfort, pain, or trouble; unpleasant, offensive, disagreeable; troublesome, painful.
a1131 Anglo-Saxon Chron. anno 1124, Se king let hine don on ifele bendas.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 161, The berry of‥the wyld Uine‥, the euill tast wherof wyll cause them to lothe Grapes.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lxxxviii. 130 The herbe‥is of a very evill and strong stincking savour.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xx. 113 We name that Evil, which is apt to produce or increase any Pain, or diminish any Pleasure in us.
1850 Tennyson In Memoriam liv. 78 Are God and Nature then at strife, That Nature lends such evil dreams?
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†b. Hard, difficult. Const. to with inf. Obs.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 147 Hit is uuel to understonden on hwulche wise Mon mei him solf forsake.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. xv. 63 Hony is yuel to defye and engleymeth þe mawe.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccxxi. 286 It was yuell mountyng of yt hyll.
1551 W. Turner New Herball i. A iv b, Astriction‥is ether very euyll to be founde, or els there is none to be founde at all.
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†5.
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a. Of conditions, fortune, etc., also (rarely) of persons: Unfortunate, miserable, wretched. evil health n. misfortune (see health n.). Obs.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 33 Hwi beo we uule on þisse wrecche world.
a1300 Floriz & Bl. 441 Hi beden God ȝiue him uuel fin.
a1400 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7320 Þei aske anoþer kyng þen me Euelhele þe tyme shul þei se.
1477 Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 39 Thenne cam agaynst him the king of Poulane, but that was to his euyl helthe.
a1500 (1450) Merlin (1899) i. 20 Thow toldest the person that thow were euel ther-on.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 78 He‥after the dede & euylhap‥fledd with all from þis land.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 217/2 Evyll lucke, malevr.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Exod. v. 19 The officers‥did see that they were in euill case.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. v. iii. §15. 509 So beaten, and in such euill plight.
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b. Of periods of time: Characterized by misfortune or suffering, unlucky, disastrous. evil May-day: see May Day n.1 2.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. ix. 120 Wastoures and wrecches out of wedloke‥Conceyued ben in yuel tyme.
1490 Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) iii. 107 Evyll daye gyve you, god.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost ix. 780 Her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the Fruit.
1738 J. Wesley Psalms iv, Help me in my Evil Day.
1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life I. iv. 67 In an evil hour, I‥changed my lodgings.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 280 In times which might by Englishmen be justly called evil times.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 186 The Boii‥determined to anticipate the evil day.
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6. evil eye n. (Phrases, to bear, cast, look with, an evil eye.)
a. A look of ill-will.
c1000 Liber Scintillarum xxvii. (1889) 102 Unclænnyss eage yfel [oculus malus] withersacung‥gemænsumiaþ man.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Mark vii. 22 Fro withynne, of the herte of men comen‥vnchastite, yuel yȝe, blasphemyes.
1526–34 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. xx. 15 Ys thyne eye evyll because I am good.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Mark vii. 22 Lasciuiousnesse, an euill eye [Rev. V. an evil eye], blasphemie.
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) i. xx. 202 Why should wee‥beare an evill eye towards them?
a1644 F. Quarles Solomons Recant. (1645) x. 79 Let not thine eyes be evill.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 84 They look with an Evil Eye upon Leghorne.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) I. 394 Patriotic citizens will cast an evil eye upon you as a subverter of the laws.
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b. A malicious or envious look which, in popular belief, had the power of doing material harm; also, the faculty, superstitiously ascribed to certain individuals, of inflicting injury by a look. Cf. French mauvais œil, Italian malocchio.
1796 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XVIII. 123 The less informed‥are afraid of their [old Women's] evil Eye among the cattle.
1797 J. Dallaway Constantinople 391 Nothing can exceed the superstition of the Turks respecting the Evil Eye of an enemy or infidel.
1834 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii i. iii, He certainly possesses the gift of the evil eye.
1871 C. Reade Terrible Tempt. xxxiii, Or if you didn't kill him, you'd cast the evil eye on him.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. at Evil, 'E's a nasty downlookin' fellow—looks as if 'e could cast a nev'l-eye upon yo'.
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II. Bad in a privative sense: Not good.
†7.
a. Of an animal or vegetable growth or product, as a tree, fruit, the body, ‘humours’: Unsound, corrupt. Of a member or organ: Diseased. to have an evil head: to be insane.
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b. Of air, diet, water: Wanting in the essentials of healthy nutrition; unwholesome. Obs.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) vii. 17 Ælc yfel treow byrþ yfele wæstmas.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 178 Gif of þære wambe anre þa yfelan wætan cumen.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 183 Gief þe licame beð euel, loð is heo þe sowle.
c1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1878 Iuel blod was hire withinne.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Matt. vii. 18 A good tree may nat make yuel fruytis, nether an yuel tree make good fruytis.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 38 Yvel fleisch growiþ in a wounde.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 80 If‥þe eir be yvel, þe sike man schal be chaungid into good eyr.
a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 20 A gentille man‥was riotous‥and hadd an evelle hede [Fr. male teste].
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xviii. 24 Beastis they‥myght eate at their pleasure without bredde, whiche was an euyll dyette.
1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 1372/2, I am an olde man and haue a verye euill backe.
1587 J. White in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1589) iii. 764 The water whereof was so euill.
1591 F. Sparry tr. C. de Cattan Geomancie 199, I iudged that the horse had an euill foote and was worth nothing.
1597 Shakespeare Richard III i. i. 140 Oh he hath kept an euill diet long.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Jer. xxiv. 3 Very euill [figs] that cannot be eaten, they are so euill.
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†8.
a. Inferior in quality, constitution, condition or appearance; poor, unsatisfactory, defective. Obs.
971 Blickl. Hom. 197 Heo [seo cirice] is eac on onsyne utan yfeles heowes.
c1300 Cursor M. (Edinb.) 21805 Þis tale queþir it be iuil or gode I fande it writin.
13.. tr. Leges Burgorum c. 63 in Sc. Stat. I. 345 And gif scho makis ivil ale and dois agane þe custume of þe toune‥scho sall gif til hir mercyment viii s or‥be put on þe kukstule.
c1400 Rom. Rose 4459 Whanne she wole make A fulle good silogisme‥aftirward ther shal in deede Folwe an evelle conclusioun.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. B.) 8 Euyle maners beþ folwynge þe lyknesse of an yvele complexioun.
1561 in T. Thomson Inventories 141 Item, ane evill litle burdclaith of grene.
1576 E. Grindal Let. Ld. Burleigh in Wks. (1843) 392, I pray your lordship, appoint when you come to take an evil dinner with me.
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. i. 38 If a man cut with an euill knife, hee is the cause of cutting, but not of euill cutting.
1592 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. ix. 229 Vayns‥gude to be opynd for‥euyll sight.
1609 J. Skene tr. Regiam Majestatem 142.
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†b. Of a workman, work, etc.: Unskilful. Obs.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 416/1, I acloye with a nayle, as an yvell smythe dothe an horse foote.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 37/1 None euill captaine was hee in the warre.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. 85 He is an euell pyper but a good fiddler.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 36, An excellent good seede for an euyll husbande.
1799 S. Freeman Town Officer 146 Forfeit every hide marred or hurt by his evil workmanship.
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B. n.1
I. The adj. used absol. That which is evil.
1.
a. In the widest sense: That which is the reverse of good; whatever is censurable, mischievous, or undesirable. Also with adj.: moral evil, physical evil.
c1340 Cursor M. (Fairf.) 939 Y made eville & good to you knowen.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. iii. 5 Ȝe shul ben as Goddis, knowynge good and yuel.
1559 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 153, I, Sir Willm Paynter‥wt all vnderstanding of good and evell, make this my last will.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Gen. iii. 5.
1733 Pope Ess. Man i. 284 All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee‥All partial Evil, universal Good.
1759 Johnson Idler 29 Dec. 409 Almost all the moral Good which is left among us, is the apparent Effect of physical Evil.
1813 Pantologia (at cited word), The most serious difficulty lies in accounting for the permission of moral evil or guilt.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles (1862) xviii. 295 They [the Scriptures] ever recognize the reality of evil.
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 180 Evil is of two sorts, evil of sin, and evil of punishment.
1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 42 Moral evil is a broad black fact.
1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe vii. 269 The greatest of all mysteries—the origin of evil.
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b. What is morally evil; sin, wickedness.
c1040 Rule St. Benet (Logeman) 3 Gecyr from yfele & do god.
a1175 Cott. Hom. 219 Þat teonðe werod abreað, and awende on yfele.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 11 An wereȝed gost‥him aure tacheð to ufele.
1413 Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1483) iv. xxv. 71 To‥chesen the good fro euylle.
1596 W. Raleigh in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. (1880) 37 Converting badd into yevill and yevill in worse.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Prov. iii. 7 Feare the Lord, and depart from euill.
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c. What is mischievous, painful, or disastrous.
c850 Bede's Death-song in Sweet Old Eng. Texts 149 To ymbhycgannae‥huaet his gastae, godaes aeththa yflaes aefter deothdaee doemid uueorthae.
971 Blickl. Hom. 115 Nu is æhwonon yfel and slee.
1154 Anglo-Saxon Chron. anno 1135, Al unfrið, & yfel, & ræflac.
a1300 Cursor M. 7949 (Cott.) , Iuel he sal apon þe rais.
a1325 (1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 788 Ðat ywel him sulde nummor deren.
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. II. 249 Ȝelde to noo man yvel for yvel.
a1400–50 Alexander 1699 Depely þam playnt, Quat erroure of þis Emperoure & euill þai suffird.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 709 Morbosus, full of ewylle.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Job ii. 10 Shall wee receiue good at the hand of God, and shall wee not receiue euil?
1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. xviii. §17 (note) , It was the dread of evil, not the hope of good that first cemented societies together.
1850 Tennyson In Memoriam xcvi. 146 Evil haunts The birth, the bridal.
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2. to do evil, †say evil. (In post-inflectional English hardly distinguishable from use of evil adv.) †with evil: with evil intention. †to take in, or to, evil: to take (a thing) ill; also, to be hurt by.
c825 Vesp. Psalter xiv. [xv.] 3 Ne he dyde ðæm nestan his yfel.
971 Blickl. Hom. 51 He us þonne foryldeþ swa we nu her doþ, e godes e yfeles.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 11 Eadie synt e þonne hi wyriað eow and ehtað eow and seceað ælc yfel [Vulg. omne malum] ongen eow.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) v. 29 Þa þe god worhton farað on lifes æreste, and þa þe yfel [ Vulg. mala dydon on domes æreste].
c1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 23183 For good & euele þat þei dud ere.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. viii. 23 ‘And whoso synneth’, I seyde ‘doth yuel, as me þinketh’.
c1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2494 Mi lordes‥Take it not in euel that I say here.
c1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3972 That stroke Generides to yuel nam.
c1460 Emare 535 Another letter she made with evyll.
c1510 T. More tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe J. Picus in Wks. 15/2 If folk backbite us & saie euill of us: shal we so grevously take it, that lest they should begin to do yuel?
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Kivv/2, To do Euil, malefacere.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Ecclus. v. 1 They consider not that they doe euill.
1842 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni 29 He does no evil.
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3. With defining word: That which is evil in some particular case or relation; the evil portion or element of anything. Also quasi-abstr. as in to see the evil of (a course of action).
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xxi. 157 Ðu meaht eseon eall ðæt yfel openlice ðæt ðærinne lutað.
c1400 Solomon's Bk. Wisd. 70 Ȝif he wot any yuel by þe.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cv. 127 So that all thynges consydred, the good and yuell, they yelded them to therle of Derby.
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene ii. viii. sig. T6v, The euill donne Dyes not, when breath the body first doth leaue.
1611 Bible (A.V.) John xvii. 15, I pray‥that thou shouldest keepe them from the euill.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxviii. 162 All evill‥inflicted without intention‥is not Punishment.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost i. 163 If then his Providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good.
1759 Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xxix. 35 To inquire what were the sources of‥the evil that we suffer.
1877 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. ii. 34 The evil which is the excess of appetite and passion is not so bad as the evil which corrupts virtue.
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II. A particular thing that is evil.
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4. gen. Anything that causes harm or mischief, physical or moral. the social evil: prostitution.
a1300 Cursor M. 8108 (Cott.) , Þir wandes thre wit-in þe rote Gains iuels all þai bar al bote.
c1400 (1380) Cleanness (Nero) l. 277, & þenne euelez on erþe ernestly grewen.
c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 3696 Of twa euels gif ȝe nede þe tane To chese.
c1500 Melusine (1895) 237 Of two euylles men ought to choose the lasse.
1539 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Prouerbes 39 A lytle euyll, a great good.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 76, Among other euils, they [sc. hop gardens] wyl be ful of wormes.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Prov. xxii. 3 A prudent man foreseeth the euill, and hideth himselfe.
1674 R. Godfrey Var. Injuries in Physick 94 We being admonisht by the vulgar proverb, To choose the least of Evils.
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 135 There are evils to which the calamities of war are blessings.
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. 305 Correcting an evil which disturbed the internal tranquillity of Sparta.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 136 One of the chief evils which afflicted Ireland.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 12 A real evil to be combated.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 75 We can afford to forgive as well as pity the evil which can be cured.
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†5. A wrong-doing, sin, crime. Usually pl. Obs.
OE Beowulf 2094, I(c ð)am leodsceaðan yfla gehwylces ondlean forgeald.
c1000 Ags. Ps. cv. 25 [cvi. 32] Þær Moyses wearð mæene ebysad for heora yfelum.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 15 Þas þeues þet nulleð nu nefre swike heore uueles.
a1300 Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter lxxiv. 5 [lxxv. 4], I said to wicke, Ivels wicli do þer forn.
c1374 Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. iv. i. 109 Yif þat yuelys passen wiþ outen punyssheinge.
1490 Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xxi. 465, I have don many grete evylles agenst my creatour.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Worcester xvii, King Edwardes evilles all wer counted mine.
1597 Shakespeare Richard III i. ii. 76 Of these supposed euils‥to acquite my selfe.
1614 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. II. O.T. vi. 181 Men think either to patronize, or mitigate euils, by their fained reasons.
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†6. A calamity, disaster, misfortune. Obs.
a1300 Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter lxxxix. [xc.] 15 Yheres in whilke we segh ivels þus.
c1475 (1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 41 He reprouid þe rych, and seid many iuel to cum to hem.
1490 Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xix. 408 Grete evylles and harmes are happeth therby.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Esther viii. B, How can I se the euell that shal happen vnto my people?
1590 J. Smythe in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 64 Ther may uppon dyvers accidents ensue such and so great evills unto your Majestie and Realme.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost ii. 281 How in safety best we may Compose our present evils.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. i. 14 With the additional evil of being separated from his family.
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7.
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†a. gen. A disease, malady. Obs.
c1275 (1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8782 Aurilie wule beon dæd. þat ufel is under his ribben.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 114 Than him tok an iuel strong.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 3001 Som‥Sal haf als þe yuel of meselry.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) viii. 29 A medicinal thing it [aloes] es for many euils.
1480 Caxton tr. Trevisa Descr. Eng. 25 The yelow euyll that is called the Jaundis.
1697 Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 121 The slow creeping Evil eats his way.
1725 N. Robinson New Theory of Physick 280 It cannot be expected that‥the feeling his Pulse‥will remove the Evil he labours under.
fig.
c1400 Rom. Rose 3269 This is the yvelle that love they calle.
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b. the Aleppo evil: ‘a disease, which first appears under the form of an eruption on the skin, and afterwards forms into a sort of boil’ ( Penny Cycl. XII. 12/2). †the foul evil: the pox. †the falling evil: = ‘the falling sickness’, epilepsy.
c1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 11831 Þe fallyng euel had he to melle.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) vi. 69 It heleth him of the fallynge Euyll.
?a1500 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 791 Hic morbus caducus, the fallyn evylle.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Fovre-footed Beastes 654 The bloode of a Lambe mingled with wine, doth heale‥those which haue the fowle euill.
1869 E. A. Parkes Man. Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 79 The Aleppo evil, the Damascus ulcer, and some other diseases.
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c. Short for king's evil n.: scrofula. Also attrib. in †evil gold, the gold coin (see angel n. 6) given by the king to those touched by him for ‘the evil’.
[1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 182 Les escrovelles, a disease called the quynnancy or the kynges yvell.]
a1616 Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. iii. 147 Macd. What's the Disease he means? Mal. Tis call'd the Euill.
1667 London Gaz. No. 154/4, There will be no farther Touching for the Evil till Michaelmas next.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3814/4, Stolen‥two Pieces of Evil Gold.
1737 Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 14 When golden Angels cease to cure the Evil.
1751 Fielding in Lond. Daily Advertiser 31 Aug., Two of the most miserable Diseases‥the Asthma and the Evil.
1868 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) II. App. 536 The first who undertook to cure the evil by the royal touch.
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Compounds
Comb.
C1. Of the adj., chiefly parasynthetic adjs.
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evil-affected adj.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Acts xiv. 2 Stirred vp the Gentiles, and made their mindes *euill affected against the brethren.
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evil-affectedness n.
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iv. 154 The *evil-affectedness of the people.
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evil-complexioned adj.
1623 W. Drummond Cypresse Grove in Flowres of Sion 57 If they were not distempered and *euill complexioned, they would not be sicke.
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evil-eyed adj.
a1616 Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. i. 73 You shall not finde me (Daughter) *Euill-ey'd vnto you.
1661 T. Pierce Serm. 29 May 35 Nor can you rationally hope to keep your Peace any longer, then whilest the evil-ey'd Factions want power to break it.
1872 J. Ruskin Eagle's Nest §106 But to be evil-eyed, is that not worse than to have no eyes?
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evil-fortuned adj.
1490 Caxton tr. Eneydos xxvi. 94 O fortune *euyll fortuned why haste thou not permytted me, etc.
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evil-headed adj.
c1583 J. Balfour Practicks 490 (Jam.) Gif the awiner of the beist‥knew that he was *evil-heidit or cumbersom.
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evil-hearted adj.
1832 Tennyson Œnone in Poems (new ed.) 53 *Evilhearted Paris,‥Came up from reedy Simois all alone.
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evil-hued adj.
a1250 (1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 167 Me‥tolde him. þet his deore spuse‥were‥lene & *vuele i-heowed.
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evil-mannered adj.
1656 J. Trapp Comm. Coloss. ii. 20 The most uncivil and *evil-mannered‥of all those who have borne the name of God upon earth.
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evil-minded adj.
1531 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. vii. 201 Opportunity was taken by the *evil-minded to worry alien Surgeons.
1687 Dryden Hind & Panther ii. 70 Some evil minded beasts might‥wreak their hidden hate.
1817 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 8 Feb. 164 The endeavours which have recently been exerted‥by designing and evil-minded men.
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evil-mindedness n.
1884 J. Parker Apostolic Life III. 144 We ourselves are‥infinite in the variety of our *evil-mindedness.
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evil-officed adj.
1607 T. Middleton Revengers Trag. ii. sig. C4v, What makes yon *euill offic'd man.
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evil-qualitied adj.
1613 J. Hayward Liues III. Normans 59 His returne was on foote, by reason of the *euill qualitied wayes.
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evil-savoured adj.
c1400 Rom. Rose 4733 [Love is] Right *evelle savoured good savour.
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evil-starred adj.
1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 107 In wild Mahratta-battle fell my father *evil-starred.
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evil-thewed adj. [see thew n.1]
c1460 (1400) Tale of Beryn (1887) l. 2177 Nevir þing so wild Ne so *evill-thewid, as I was my selff.
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evil-thoughted adj.
1824 J. Symmons tr. Æschylus Agamemnon 11 Cure me of *evil-thoughted care.
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evil-tongued adj.
1867 in Deutsch's Rem. 8 The *evil-tongued messenger arrived in the camp.
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evil-weaponed adj.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons Sig. ***, They have been contented to suffer their soldiers to goe *evill weaponed.
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evil-willed adj.
1393 Langland Piers Plowman C. ii. 189 Men of holy churche, Auerouse & *euel~willed whanne thei ben auaunsed.
a1475 Bk. Quinte Essence 26 Saturn is a planete evel-willid and ful of sekenes.
c1475 (1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 25 Who schal rise to gidre wiþ me aȝenis þe iuil willid.
1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. in Wks. 1054/2 His wisedome will not enter into an euil-willed heart.
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C2. Also evil-favoured adj., etc.
† evil-usage n. Obs. = ill usage n.
1645 Milton Tetrachordon 93 Hemingius‥writing of divorce‥gives us sixe [causes thereof], adultery, desertion, inability, error, *evill usage, and impiety.
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C3. Of the n.
a.
(a) Objective with agent-noun.
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evil-sayer n.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 217/2 *Evyll sayer, maldisant.
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evil-speaker n.
a1200 Moral Ode 274 Þeor beð naddren‥Þa tered and freteð þe *uuele speken.
1413 Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1483) iii. v. 53 Gladly heryng euery euel speker.
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evil-worker n.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Pref., Behald ye doggis, behald *ewil workeris.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Phil. iii. 2 Beware of euill workers.
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(b) With vbl. n. and pr. pple. forming adjectives and substantives.
evil-boding n. and adj.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) xi. 125 The *evil-bodings which a succession of Job's comforters had been pouring into her ears.
1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Wks. I. 101 And evil-boding bitches, and ill-omened birds.
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evil-saying n.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. aiiiiv, Detraction is a preuy and secrete *yuell, sayeng of our neighbour.
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evil-speaking n.
1611 Bible (A.V.) 1 Pet. ii. 1 *Euill-speakings.
1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. III. 495 Many good Men‥look upon these Evil-speakings as a sort of Martyrdom.
1847 G. Grote Hist. Greece III. ii. xi. 187 [Solon] forbade absolutely evil-speaking with respect to the dead.
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evil-wishing adj.
1590 Sir P. Sidney Covntesse of Pembrokes Arcadia ii. x. f. 145v, A country full of *euil-wishing minds toward him.
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b. Instrumental, with pples., forming adjs.
† evil-bicaught adj. Obs.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 296 Thai weren sought and founde hem nought Tho he held hem *iuel bicought.
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evil-impregnated adj.
1855 Woman's Devotion II. 25 *Evil-impregnated air that seemed to surround Lady Jane, wherever she went.
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C4. See evil-doer n., evil-willer n.
evil-proof adj. proof against evil.
1864 W. W. Skeat tr. J. L. Uhland Songs & Ballads 63 Now, builder, finish the walls and roof, God's blessing hath made it *evil-proof.
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Draft additions February 2005
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Evil Empire n. orig. U.S. (depreciative) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (now hist.); (also) communist nations collectively; (in extended use) any very powerful nation or organization which is perceived as a competitor, enemy, or potential threat.
1983 R. Reagan in N.Y. Times 9 Mar. a18/6, I urge you to beware the temptation‥to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an *evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding.
1992 Our Times Sept. 53/3 Even today, with the Evil Empire in tatters and the Cold War frozen in time, we are only a historical blip away from the madness brought on by anti-communism.
2003 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 19 Jan., Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, reacting to the Yankees' signing of Contreras, Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui and Roger Clemens for $63.1 million, described the Yankees as the Evil Empire.
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evil, adj. and n./1
Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/65386>; accessed 18 January 2011. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1894.
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Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010
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In this entry:
Aleppo evil, the
bear, cast, look with, an evil eye, to
do evil, to
evil-affected
evil-affectedness
evil angel, spirit
evil-bicaught
evil-boding
evil-complexioned
Evil Empire
evil eye
evil-eyed
evil-fortuned
evil gold
evil-headed
evil health
evil-hearted
evil-hued
evil-impregnated
evil-mannered
evil-minded
evil-mindedness
evil-officed
evil one ( the evil man), the
evil-proof
evil-qualitied
evil-savoured
evil-sayer
evil-saying
evil-speaker
evil-speaking
evil-starred
evil-thewed
evil-thoughted
evil tongue
evil-tongued
evil-usage
evil-weaponed
evil will
evil-willed
evil-wishing
evil-worker
falling evil, the
foul evil, the
have an evil head, to
moral evil
physical evil
say evil
see the evil of, to
social evil, the
take in, to, evil, to
with evil
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evidential, adj.1610
evidentially, adv.1654
evidentiary, adj.1817
evidently, adv.c1374
evidentness, n.1552
evigilate, adj.1727
evigilation, n.1720
evil, n.2a1616
evil, n.31642
evil, adj. and n.1c825
evil, v.c1000
evil, adv.971
evil-doer, n.1398
evil-doing, n.1398
evilfare, n.1556
evil-favoured, adj.1530
evilful, adj.c1475
evilless, adj.c1394
evilly, adv.a1575
evilmost, adj.1857
evilness, n.1000
evilty, n.c1330
evil-willer, n.1460
evil-willing, adj.a1400
ˌevil-willy, adj.a1382
evince, v.1608-11
evincement, n.1651
evincible, adj.1593
evincing, adj.1641
evincive, adj.1805
evintegrous, adj.1674-81
Evipan, n.1932
evirate, adj.1606
evirate, v.1621
eviration, n.1603
evirato, n.1796
evirtuate, adj.1799
evirtuate, v.1640
eviscerate, adj.1830
eviscerate, v.1607
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