English
fiend
Fiend comes from Middle English fend ‘enemy’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-‘to hate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fijandz‘enemy, fiend’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fijandreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fēond‘enemy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fend‘enemy’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588fiend
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-‘to hate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fijandz‘enemy, fiend’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fijandreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150fēond‘enemy’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fend‘enemy’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588fiend
Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “what God or Feend, or ſpirit of the earth,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate’
patient, passionate, passive, compatible, compassion, patience, repent, penitentiary, penance, penitent, penitence, 10 more
through Middle English fend ‘enemy’
Today it means
noun A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- / fiend