different between devil vs hellfire

English

Alternative forms

• davil, debbil, deevil (pronunciation spelling)
• diuel, divel (dialectal or archaic)
• deuill, devel, devell, devill, diuell (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English d?ofol, d?oful, from earlier d?obul (“devil”), from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek ???????? (diábolos, “accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew ??????? (??t?n)), from ???????? (diabáll?, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from ??? (diá, “through, across”) + ????? (báll?, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse dj?full). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: d?v??l, IPA^(key): /?d?v?l/
• (rare, dated) enPR: d?v?îl, IPA^(key): /?d?v?l/
• Rhymes: -?v?l

Proper noun

the devil

1. (theology) The chief devil; Satan.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:Satan

   Antonym: God

Alternative forms

• Devil

Translations

Noun

devil (plural devils)

1. (theology) An evil creature.

   Synonym: demon

   Antonyms: angel, god

2. (folklore) A fictional image of a man, usually red or orange in skin color; with a set of horns on his head, a pointed goatee and a long tail and carrying a pitchfork; that represents evil and portrayed to children in an effort to discourage bad behavior.
3. The bad part of the conscience; the opposite to the angel.

   Antonyms: angel, conscience

4. A wicked or naughty person, or one who harbors reckless, spirited energy, especially in a mischievous way; usually said of a young child.

   Synonyms: imp, rascal, scamp, scoundrel

   Antonyms: angel, saint

5. A thing that is awkward or difficult to understand or do.

   Synonyms: bastard, bitch, (UK) bugger, stinker

   Antonyms: (US) cakewalk, piece of cake

6. (euphemistic, with an article, as an intensifier) Hell.

   Synonyms: (euphemistic) deuce, (euphemistic) dickens, (vulgar) fuck, heck, hell

7. A person, especially a man; used to express a particular opinion of him, usually in the phrases poor devil and lucky devil.

   Synonyms: (UK) bugger, (used of a woman) cow, (UK) sod

8. A dust devil.
9. (religion, Christian Science) An evil or erring entity.
10. (dialectal, in compounds) A barren, unproductive and unused area.

11. (cooking) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper.
12. A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc.
13. A Tasmanian devil.
14. (cycling, slang) An endurance event where riders who fall behind are periodically eliminated.

Derived terms

Related terms

• diabolo
• diablo

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: tewel
• ? Chuukese: tefin

Translations

Verb

devil (third-person singular simple present devils, present participle (US) deviling or devilling, simple past and past participle (US) deviled or devilled)

1. To make like a devil; to invest with the character of a devil.
2. To annoy or bother.

   Synonyms: bedevil; see also Thesaurus:annoy

3. To work as a ‘devil’; to work for a lawyer or writer without fee or recognition.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), page 401:

     He did not repeat the scathing estimate of her character by Quatrefages, who at that time spent one afternoon a week devilling at the Consulate, keeping the petty-cash box in order.

4. To prepare (food) with spices, making it spicy:
   1. To grill with cayenne pepper; to season highly in cooking, as with pepper.
   2. To finely grind cooked ham or other meat with spices and condiments.
   3. To prepare a sidedish of shelled halved boiled eggs to whose extracted yolks are added condiments and spices, which mixture then is placed into the halved whites to be served.

Usage notes

• UK usage doubles the l in the inflected forms "devilled" and "devilling"; US usage generally does not.

Derived terms

• deviled egg, devilled egg
• deviled ham, devilled ham
• devilled sausages

Translations

See also

• Al-Shaytaan
• angel
• daeva
• demon
• enemy
• ghoul
• jinn
• Lucifer
• nasnas
• Satan

Further reading

• devil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

Anagrams

• divel, lived, vilde, viled

Middle English

Noun

devil

1. Alternative form of devel

English

Etymology

From Middle English helle fire, helever, from Old English hellef?r, equivalent to hell +? fire. Cognate with West Frisian helfjoer (“hellfire”), Dutch hellevuur (“hellfire”), German Höllenfeuer (“hellfire”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?h?l?fa??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?h?l?fa???/

Noun

hellfire (countable and uncountable, plural hellfires)

1. (uncountable) The fire of Hell.
2. (uncountable) Fire produced by the Devil, or a similar supernatural creature connected to Hell.
3. (countable) A fire that burns with unusual heat or ferocity.

Alternative forms

• sometimes capitalized, hyphenated, or both: Hellfire, hell-fire, Hell-fire; also as fires of hell

Translations

Adjective

hellfire (comparative more hellfire, superlative most hellfire)

1. Of or relating to a violent, apocalyptic and ultimate day of reckoning and judgment; usually characterizing a form of Christian preaching.
   • 1902, William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lectures 4 & 5:

     The advance of liberalism, so-called, in Christianity, during the past fifty years, may fairly be called a victory of healthy-mindedness within the church over the morbidness with which the old hell-fire theology was more harmoniously related.

   • 2005, Sang Hyun Lee, The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards (University of Princeton Press), p. 253:

     Sermons such as The Eternity of Hell Torments and The Future Punishment of the Wicked Unavoidable and Intolerable, as well as several manuscript examples, serve to mark the distinction between a true hellfire sermon and the proto-eschatological concerns of Sinners [in the Hands of an Angry God], consumed as it is with the here and now.

See also

• fire and brimstone
• purgatory

Interjection

hellfire

1. hell; damn; blast