Etymology

devilish

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Today it means: Resembling a devil. Full definition →

Middle English develissh
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromdevelissh
  2. English todaydevilish

From Middle English develissh, develyssh, equivalent to devil + -ish. Cognate with Saterland Frisian düvelsk, düüwelsk (“devilish”), West Frisian duvelsk (“devilish”), Dutch duivels (“devilish”), German Low German düvelsk (“devilish”), German teuflisch (“devilish”), Danish djævelsk (“devilish”), Swedish djävulsk (“devilish”), Norwegian djevelsk (“devilish”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.