evil

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• /ˈiːvəl/
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• [ˈɪi̯vəl] ~ [ˈɪi̯vl̩]
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• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• /ˈiːvɪl/
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• obsolete: [ˈɪi̯vɪl]
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• rhymes with -iːvəl
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• CMU ARPABET: IY1 V AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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From Middle English yvel, evel, ivel, uvel, from Old English yfel, from Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h2up(h1)élos, a deverbal derivative of *h2wep(h1)-, *h2wop(h1)- (“treat badly”). See -le for the supposed suffix. Alternatively from *upélos (“evil”, literally “going over or beyond (acceptable limits)”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo, *h3ewp- (“down, up, over”). Cognates Cognate with Dutch euvel (“evil”), German übel (“bad, evil”), German Low German övel (“evil”), Luxembourgish iwwel (“queasy, nauseous; bad”), Gothic 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils, “bad, evil”). Compare Old Irish fel (“bad, evil”), from Proto-Celtic *uɸelos, and Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒍣 (huwapp-i, “to mistreat, harass”), 𒄷𒉿𒀊𒉺𒀸 (huwappa-, “evil, badness”).

From Middle English yvele, yvel, ivel, from Old English yfele (“badly, evilly”), a derivative of the adjective yfel (“bad, evil”). Often reinterpreted as the noun in the later language (as in "to speak evil").

395 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: شِرِّير (širrīr) — intending to harm
• Arabic: شَرِير (šarīr) — intending to harm
• Arabic: شرير (šarīr) — intending to harm
• Armenian: չար (čʻar) — intending to harm
• Asturian: malu — intending to harm
• Asturian: malín — intending to harm
• Asturian: gafu — intending to harm
• Asturian: gafientu — intending to harm
• Basque: gaizto — intending to harm
• Belarusian: злы (zly) — intending to harm
• Bulgarian: лош (loš) — intending to harm
• Bulgarian: зъл (zǎl) — intending to harm
• Catalan: malvat — intending to harm
• Catalan: dolent — intending to harm
• Catalan: maliciós — intending to harm
• Catalan: malèfic — intending to harm
• Catalan: roí — intending to harm
• Chinese: 惡質 /恶质 (zh-min-nan) — intending to harm
• Chinese Mandarin: 邪惡的 /邪恶的 (xié'è de) — intending to harm
• Chinese Mandarin: 壞的 /坏的 (huài de) — intending to harm
• Chinese Mandarin: 凶狠 (xiōnghěn) — intending to harm
• Chukchi: нанӈэнаӄэн (nanṇėnaqėn) — intending to harm
• Chukchi: анӈэнаԓьын (anṇėnaḷʹyn) — intending to harm
• Maore Comorian: -ovu — intending to harm
• Coptic: ϩⲟⲟⲩ (hoou) — intending to harm
• Czech: zlý — intending to harm
• Danish: ond — intending to harm
• Danish: slem — intending to harm
• Danish: slet — intending to harm
• Danish: dårlig — intending to harm
• Danish: skadelig — intending to harm
• Dutch: kwaadaardig — intending to harm
• Dutch: boosaardig — intending to harm
• Dutch: kwaad — intending to harm
• Dutch: slecht — intending to harm
• Dutch: euvel — intending to harm
• Dutch: boos — intending to harm
• Esperanto: malbona — intending to harm
• Esperanto: malica — intending to harm
• Estonian: paha — intending to harm
• Estonian: kuri — intending to harm
• Faroese: óndur — intending to harm
• Faroese: óreinur — intending to harm
• Finnish: paha — intending to harm
• Finnish: pahantahtoinen — intending to harm
• Finnish: häijy — intending to harm
• Finnish: ilkeä — intending to harm
• Finnish: pirullinen — intending to harm
• French: mauvais — intending to harm
• French: maléfique — intending to harm
• French: méchant — intending to harm
• French: infâme — intending to harm
• Galician: mao — intending to harm
• Georgian: ბოროტი (boroṭi) — intending to harm
• Georgian: ავი (avi) — intending to harm
• Georgian: მავნე (mavne) — intending to harm
• German: böse — intending to harm
• German: übel — intending to harm
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils) — intending to harm
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌸 (unþiuþ) — intending to harm
• Greek: κακός (kakós) — intending to harm
• Ancient Greek: πονηρός (ponērós) — intending to harm
• Haitian Creole: move — intending to harm
• Haitian Creole: mechan — intending to harm
• Hebrew: רע — intending to harm
• Hebrew: מרושע (merusha) — intending to harm
• Higaonon: madaut — intending to harm
• Hiligaynon: malain — intending to harm
• Hindi: दुष्ट (duṣṭ) — intending to harm
• Hindi: बुरा (burā) — intending to harm
• Hindi: पापी (pāpī) — intending to harm
• Hungarian: gonosz — intending to harm
• Icelandic: illur — intending to harm
• Icelandic: ill f illt — intending to harm
• Icelandic: vondur — intending to harm
• Icelandic: slæmur — intending to harm
• Ido: mala — intending to harm
• Ilocano: balang — intending to harm
• Indonesian: jahat — intending to harm
• Ingrian: pakana — intending to harm
• Interlingua: mal — intending to harm
• Interlingua: malefic — intending to harm
• Italian: malvagio — intending to harm
• Italian: malevolo — intending to harm
• Italian: maligno — intending to harm
• Italian: malefico — intending to harm
• Italian: perverso — intending to harm
• Italian: diabolico — intending to harm
• Italian: mefistofelico — intending to harm
• Italian: infernale — intending to harm
• Italian: demoniaco — intending to harm
• Italian: satanico — intending to harm
• Japanese: 悪い (warui) — intending to harm
• Japanese: 邪心 (jashin) — intending to harm
• Japanese: 邪悪な (jaaku na) — intending to harm
• Kannada: ಕೆಟ್ಟ (keṭṭa) — intending to harm
• Kannada: ದುಷ್ಠ (duṣṭha) — intending to harm
• Kazakh: мейірімсіз (meiırımsız) — intending to harm
• Kazakh: қас (qas) — intending to harm
• Khmer: អាក្រក់ (ʼaakrɑk) — intending to harm
• Khmer: កាច (kaac) — intending to harm
• Korean: 사악하다 (saakhada) — intending to harm
• Korean: 악랄하다 (angnalhada) — intending to harm
• Northern Kurdish: xirab — intending to harm
• Laboya: bokala — intending to harm
• Laboya: japata — intending to harm
• Lao: ຊົ່ວ (sūa) — intending to harm
• Latgalian: ļauns — intending to harm
• Latin: malus — intending to harm
• Latvian: ļauns — intending to harm
• Limburgish: kwaod — intending to harm
• Limburgish: euvel — intending to harm
• Lithuanian: piktas — intending to harm
• Lithuanian: blogas — intending to harm
• Luo: rach — intending to harm
• Macedonian: лош (loš) — intending to harm
• Macedonian: зол (zol) — intending to harm
• Malay: jahat — intending to harm
• Malayalam: തിന്മ (tinma) — intending to harm
• Marathi: दुष्ट (duṣṭa) — intending to harm
• Marathi: वाईट (vāīṭ) — intending to harm
• Middle English: yvel — intending to harm
• Navajo: doo yáʼáshǫ́ǫ da — intending to harm
• Neapolitan: malo — intending to harm
• Norwegian Bokmål: ond — intending to harm
• Norwegian Bokmål: slem — intending to harm
• Ojibwe: maji- — intending to harm
• Church Slavic: зълъ (zŭlŭ) — intending to harm
• Old English: yfel — intending to harm
• Persian: شرور (šarur) — intending to harm
• Persian: بدکار (badkâr) — intending to harm
• Plautdietsch: bees — intending to harm
• Plautdietsch: iebel — intending to harm
• Polish: zły — intending to harm
• Portuguese: mau — intending to harm
• Portuguese: maléfico — intending to harm
• Portuguese: malvado — intending to harm
• Romagnol: cativ — intending to harm
• Romanian: rău — intending to harm
• Romanian: răutăcios — intending to harm
• Romanian: hain — intending to harm
• Romanian: câinos — intending to harm
• Russian: злой (zloj) — intending to harm
• Scottish Gaelic: olc — intending to harm
• Scottish Gaelic: aingidheachd — intending to harm
• Scottish Gaelic: urchaid — intending to harm
• Scottish Gaelic: truaighe — intending to harm
• Serbo-Croatian: за̏о — intending to harm
• Serbo-Croatian: zȁo — intending to harm
• Sinhalese: දුෂ්ට ඉතා නරක (duṣṭa) — intending to harm
• Slovak: zlý — intending to harm
• Slovene: zèl — intending to harm
• Slovene: hudôben — intending to harm
• Lower Sorbian: zły — intending to harm
• Upper Sorbian: zły — intending to harm
• Spanish: malo — intending to harm
• Spanish: malvado — intending to harm
• Spanish: malévolo — intending to harm
• Spanish: maléfico — intending to harm
• Spanish: perverso — intending to harm
• Swahili: -baya — intending to harm
• Swedish: ond — intending to harm
• Swedish: elak — intending to harm
• Tagalog: masama — intending to harm
• Tamil: தீய (tīya) — intending to harm
• Tày: ác — intending to harm
• Telugu: దుష్ట (duṣṭa) — intending to harm
• Telugu: దెయ్యం (deyyaṁ) — intending to harm
• Thai: ชั่วร้าย (chûua-ráai) — intending to harm
• Thai: ชั่ว (chûua) — intending to harm
• Tocharian B: yolo — intending to harm
• Turkish: kötü — intending to harm
• Ottoman Turkish: یامان (yaman) — intending to harm
• Tuvan: бак (bak) — intending to harm
• Ukrainian: злий (zlyj) — intending to harm
• Vietnamese: ác — intending to harm
• Volapük: badik — intending to harm
• Arabic: شِرِّير (širrīr) — morally corrupt
• Arabic: شَرِير (šarīr) — morally corrupt
• Armenian: չար (čʻar) — morally corrupt
• Asturian: malváu — morally corrupt
• Bulgarian: поро́чен (poróčen) — morally corrupt
• Catalan: malvat — morally corrupt
• Catalan: dolent — morally corrupt
• Danish: ond — morally corrupt
• Danish: umoralsk — morally corrupt
• Dutch: slecht — morally corrupt
• Egyptian: Dw-w-G36 (ḏw) — morally corrupt
• Finnish: paha — morally corrupt
• Finnish: ilkeä — morally corrupt
• French: malfaisant — morally corrupt
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 (ubils) — morally corrupt
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌸 (unþiuþ) — morally corrupt
• Greek: κακός (kakós) — morally corrupt
• Greek: φαύλος (fávlos) — morally corrupt
• Ancient Greek: κακός (kakós) — morally corrupt
• Ancient Greek: πονηρός (ponērós) — morally corrupt
• Hebrew: רשע — morally corrupt
• Hindi: दुष्ट (duṣṭ) — morally corrupt
• White Hmong: phem — morally corrupt
• Italian: malvagio — morally corrupt
• Italian: cattivo — morally corrupt
• Italian: malevolo — morally corrupt
• Italian: corrotto — morally corrupt
• Khmer: ដែលខូចសីលធម (dael khooc sǝl thoa) — morally corrupt
• Northern Kurdish: xirab — morally corrupt
• Latin: malignus — morally corrupt
• Latvian: ļauns — morally corrupt
• Māori: kino — morally corrupt
• Marathi: दुष्ट (duṣṭa) — morally corrupt
• Middle English: yvel — morally corrupt
• Old English: yfel — morally corrupt
• Persian: شرورانه (šarurâne) — morally corrupt
• Persian: پلید (palid) — morally corrupt
• Persian: فژ (faž) — morally corrupt
• Plautdietsch: bees — morally corrupt
• Plautdietsch: iebel — morally corrupt
• Portuguese: mal — morally corrupt
• Portuguese: malvado — morally corrupt
• Quechua: saqra — morally corrupt
• Romanian: rău — morally corrupt
• Romanian: depravat — morally corrupt
• Romanian: decăzut — morally corrupt
• Romanian: desfrânat — morally corrupt
• Russian: поро́чный (poróčnyj) — morally corrupt
• Sanskrit: पाप (pāpa) — morally corrupt
• Serbo-Croatian: по̀ква̄рен — morally corrupt
• Serbo-Croatian: pòkvāren — morally corrupt
• Slovak: zlo — morally corrupt
• Spanish: malo — morally corrupt
• Spanish: malvado — morally corrupt
• Spanish: escelerado — morally corrupt
• Spanish: celerado — morally corrupt
• Tày: ác — morally corrupt
• Tocharian B: yolo — morally corrupt
• Tok Pisin: nogut — morally corrupt
• Volapük: badik — morally corrupt
• Welsh: abred — morally corrupt
• Welsh: adwythig — morally corrupt
• Finnish: paha — unpleasant, foul (smell, taste)
• French: mauvais — unpleasant, foul (smell, taste)
• Albanian: e keqe — moral badness, wickedness
• Arabic: شَرّ (šarr) — moral badness, wickedness
• Arabic: سَوْء (sawʔ) — moral badness, wickedness
• Armenian: չարություն (čʻarutʻyun) — moral badness, wickedness
• Armenian: չարիք (čʻarikʻ) — moral badness, wickedness
• Azerbaijani: şər — moral badness, wickedness
• Azerbaijani: yamanlıq — moral badness, wickedness
• Bashkir: яуызлыҡ (yawızlıq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Belarusian: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Belarusian: лі́ха (líxa) — moral badness, wickedness
• Bengali: মন্দ (mondo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Bulgarian: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Burmese: အကုသိုလ် (a.ku.suil) — moral badness, wickedness
• Burmese: မကောင်းမှု (ma.kaung:hmu.) — moral badness, wickedness
• Carpathian Rusyn: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Catalan: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• Cebuano: demonyo — moral badness, wickedness
• Chinese Cantonese: 邪惡 /邪恶 (ce4 ok3) — moral badness, wickedness
• Chinese Cantonese: 惡 /恶 (ok3) — moral badness, wickedness
• Chinese Mandarin: 邪惡 /邪恶 (xié'è) — moral badness, wickedness
• Chinese Mandarin: 惡 /恶 (è) — moral badness, wickedness
• Czech: zlo — moral badness, wickedness
• Dalmatian: mul — moral badness, wickedness
• Danish: ond — moral badness, wickedness
• Danish: ondskab — moral badness, wickedness
• Dutch: kwade — moral badness, wickedness
• Dutch: kwaad — moral badness, wickedness
• Dutch: slechte — moral badness, wickedness
• Dutch: euvel — moral badness, wickedness
• Dzongkha: མ་རུངས་པ — moral badness, wickedness
• Egyptian: Dw-w-t:nDs (ḏwt) — moral badness, wickedness
• Esperanto: malbono — moral badness, wickedness
• Estonian: kurjus — moral badness, wickedness
• Estonian: pahe — moral badness, wickedness
• Finnish: paha — moral badness, wickedness
• Finnish: pahuus — moral badness, wickedness
• French: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• West-Frisian: kwea — moral badness, wickedness
• Friulian: mâl — moral badness, wickedness
• Georgian: ბოროტება (boroṭeba) — moral badness, wickedness
• Georgian: სიბოროტე (siboroṭe) — moral badness, wickedness
• Georgian: სიავე (siave) — moral badness, wickedness
• German: Böse — moral badness, wickedness
• German: Übel — moral badness, wickedness
• Greek: κακό (kakó) — moral badness, wickedness
• Greek: κακία (kakía) — moral badness, wickedness
• Ancient Greek: κακία (kakía) — moral badness, wickedness
• Haitian Creole: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• Hebrew: רַע (ra) — moral badness, wickedness
• Hebrew: רָעָה (ra'á) — moral badness, wickedness
• Hebrew: רֶשַׁע (résha) — moral badness, wickedness
• Hindi: बुराई (burāī) — moral badness, wickedness
• Hindi: दुष्टता (duṣṭatā) — moral badness, wickedness
• Hindi: बदी (badī) — moral badness, wickedness
• White Hmong: qhov phem — moral badness, wickedness
• Hungarian: gonosz — moral badness, wickedness
• Icelandic: illska — moral badness, wickedness
• Icelandic: vonska — moral badness, wickedness
• Ido: malo — moral badness, wickedness
• Indonesian: jahat — moral badness, wickedness
• Indonesian: kejahatan — moral badness, wickedness
• Ingrian: pahhuus — moral badness, wickedness
• Italian: male — moral badness, wickedness
• Italian: malevolenza — moral badness, wickedness
• Italian: malignità — moral badness, wickedness
• Japanese: 邪悪 (jaaku) — moral badness, wickedness
• Japanese: 邪心 (jashin) — moral badness, wickedness
• Japanese: 悪 (aku) — moral badness, wickedness
• Kazakh: қастық (qastyq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Kazakh: жамандық (jamandyq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Kazakh: жауыздық (jauyzdyq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Khmer: បាប (baap) — moral badness, wickedness
• Korean: 악 (ak) — moral badness, wickedness
• Korean: 사악 (saak) — moral badness, wickedness
• Korean: 악랄 (angnal) — moral badness, wickedness
• Northern Kurdish: xirabî — moral badness, wickedness
• Kyrgyz: жамандык (jamandık) — moral badness, wickedness
• Kyrgyz: кастык (kastık) — moral badness, wickedness
• Lao: ບາບ (bāp) — moral badness, wickedness
• Lao: ຄວາມຊົ່ວ (khuām sūa) — moral badness, wickedness
• Latin: malum — moral badness, wickedness
• Latvian: ļaunums — moral badness, wickedness
• Lithuanian: blogis — moral badness, wickedness
• Macedonian: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Malay: jahat — moral badness, wickedness
• Malay: kejahatan — moral badness, wickedness
• Malayalam: തിന്മ (tinma) — moral badness, wickedness
• Maltese: ħażen — moral badness, wickedness
• Māori: kino — moral badness, wickedness
• Marathi: दुष्टता (duṣṭatā) — moral badness, wickedness
• Middle English: yvel — moral badness, wickedness
• Mongolian: нүгэл (nügel) — moral badness, wickedness
• Mongolian: хор (xor) — moral badness, wickedness
• Norwegian Bokmål: onde — moral badness, wickedness
• Norwegian Bokmål: ondskap — moral badness, wickedness
• Occitan: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• Church Slavic: зъло (zŭlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Old East Slavic: зъло (zŭlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Old East Slavic: лихо — moral badness, wickedness
• Old English: yfel — moral badness, wickedness
• Pannonian Rusyn: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Pashto: شر (šar) — moral badness, wickedness
• Pashto: بد (bad) — moral badness, wickedness
• Iranian Persian: بَدی (badi) — moral badness, wickedness
• Iranian Persian: شَرّ (šarr) — moral badness, wickedness
• Iranian Persian: فَژِه (faže) — moral badness, wickedness
• Polish: zło — moral badness, wickedness
• Portuguese: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• Romanian: rău — moral badness, wickedness
• Romanian: răutate — moral badness, wickedness
• Russian: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Russian: ли́хо (líxo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Russian: ху́до (xúdo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Sardinian: mabi — moral badness, wickedness
• Sardinian: mai — moral badness, wickedness
• Sardinian: male — moral badness, wickedness
• Sardinian: mali — moral badness, wickedness
• Serbo-Croatian: зло̏ — moral badness, wickedness
• Serbo-Croatian: zlȍ — moral badness, wickedness
• Slovak: zlo — moral badness, wickedness
• Slovene: zlò — moral badness, wickedness
• Upper Sorbian: zło — moral badness, wickedness
• Spanish: mal — moral badness, wickedness
• Swedish: ond — moral badness, wickedness
• Swedish: ondska — moral badness, wickedness
• Tagalog: kasamaan — moral badness, wickedness
• Tajik: бадӣ (badi) — moral badness, wickedness
• Tajik: шарр (šarr) — moral badness, wickedness
• Tajik: шар (šar) — moral badness, wickedness
• Tatar: явызлык (yawızlıq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Thai: ความชั่วร้าย (kwaam-chûua-ráai) — moral badness, wickedness
• Thai: บาป (bàap) — moral badness, wickedness
• Tocharian B: yolaiññe — moral badness, wickedness
• Turkish: kötülük — moral badness, wickedness
• Turkish: fenalık — moral badness, wickedness
• Turkish: yamanlık — moral badness, wickedness
• Turkmen: ýamanlyk — moral badness, wickedness
• Tuvaluan: amiomasei — moral badness, wickedness
• Ukrainian: зло (zlo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Ukrainian: ли́хо (lýxo) — moral badness, wickedness
• Unami: mèthìk — moral badness, wickedness
• Urdu: بَدی (badī) — moral badness, wickedness
• Urdu: بُرائی (burāī) — moral badness, wickedness
• Urdu: شَر (śar) — moral badness, wickedness
• Uyghur: يامانلىق (yamanliq) — moral badness, wickedness
• Uzbek: yomonlik — moral badness, wickedness
• Uzbek: yovuzlik — moral badness, wickedness
• Uzbek: sharr — moral badness, wickedness
• Vietnamese: cái ác — moral badness, wickedness
• Volapük: bad — moral badness, wickedness
• Welsh: drygioni — moral badness, wickedness
• Yao (Africa): ungalumbana class 14 — moral badness, wickedness
• Arabic: شَرّ (šarr) — impairment of happiness or well-being
• Ancient Greek: κακόν (kakón) — impairment of happiness or well-being