fiend
nounverbattested in dialogue
- //ˈfiːnd//
- /[ˈfɪi̯nd]/
- //fɛnd//
A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
noun
- 1
A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
what God or Feend, or ſpirit of the earth, Or Monſter turned to a manly ſhape, Or of what mould or mettel he be made, […]
Many hold too that he was acquainted with forbidden arts, and used to carry on an intercourse with the fiends and old women that raised storms, and such like.
Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!
- 2
A very evil person.
- 3
obsoleteAn enemy; a foe.
We waited for our fiend to arrive.
- 4
archaicThe enemy of mankind, specifically, the Devil; Satan.
He proffered a pact to Satan, calling upon the Fiend and working himself into a frenzy - but his infernal majesty failed to respond.
At the confirmation ceremony the bishop would lay his hands on the child and tie around its forehead a linen band […]. This was believed to strengthen him against the assaults of the fiend […]
- 5
informalAn addict or fanatic.
dope fiend
He's been a jazz fiend since his teenage years.
Now the sign of the Lamb is a modern daub, not that which hung like a "banner on the outward wall," when the celebrated "cigar-fiend" used to haunt the hostelrie consuming incredible quantities of the best Havanas.
You could hear him putting away his crumby toilet articles and all, and opening the window. He was a fresh-air fiend.
Etymology
From Middle English fend, feend (“enemy; demon”), from Old English fēond (“enemy”), Proto-West Germanic *fijand, from Proto-Germanic *fijandz. Cognates Cognate with Scots fient (“fiend”), Saterland Frisian Fäind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Cimbrian faint (“enemy, fiend”), Dutch vijand (“enemy”), German Feind (“enemy, fiend, foe”), Vilamovian faeind, fajnd (“enemy”), Yiddish פֿײַנד (faynd), פֿײַנט (faynt, “enemy”), Danish fjende (“adversary, enemy, foe”), Icelandic fjandi (“enemy; fiend, demon, devil”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fiende (“enemy”), Old Norse fjándi (“enemy; devil”), Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fiands), 𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (fijands, “enemy, foe”). The Old Norse and Gothic terms are present participles of the corresponding verbs fjá/𐍆𐌹𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fijan, “to hate”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate”) (compare Sanskrit पीयति (pī́yati, “(he) reviles”)).
verb
- 1
slangTo yearn; to be desperate.
I play it off, but I'm dreaming of you / And I'll try to keep my cool, but I'm fiendin'
I am back in San Francisco at the Clift Hotel, fiending for my fix.
Forms
- plural
- fiends
- past tense
- fiended
- past participle
- fiended
- present participle
- fiending
- third person singular
- fiends
fiend · A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
fierce · Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.fiery · Of or relating to fire.fiesta · A religious festival.