"devil" in seven languages
Meaningdevil
Spanish
diablo
/ˈdjablo/
masc.inherited
French
diable
/djabl/
masc.inherited
Italian
diavolo
/ˈdjavolo/
masc.inherited
Portuguese
diabo
/dʒiˈabu/
masc.inherited
Romanian
diavol
/ˈdjavol/
masc.borrowed · Old Church Slavonic diyavolŭ, from Greek diábolos
Everyday Romanian also says drac, from Latin DRACŌNEM 'dragon'.
Catalan
diable
/diˈablə/
masc.inherited
English
devil
/ˈdɛvəl/
from Latin/French · Old English dēofol, from Church Latin DIABOLUM
English → ItaliandevildiavoloCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
DIABOLUM‘devil (Greek diábolos 'slanderer')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Greek diábolos is 'the slanderer'. Spanish and French squeezed out the o (diablo, diable), Italian softened b to v; English took the word so early that it wore down to devil.
English relatives: diabolical
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEn el cuento, el diablo quiere su alma.
- frDans le conte, le diable veut son âme.
- itNella fiaba il diavolo vuole la sua anima.
- ptNa história, o diabo quer a alma dele.
- roÎn poveste, diavolul vrea sufletul lui.
- caEn el conte, el diable vol la seva ànima.
- enIn the story, the devil wants his soul.