Etymology

diabolical

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Today it means: Of or concerning the devil: devilish, satanic. Full definition →

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← English diabolic ← Middle English diabolik
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dwóh₁
  2. Proto-Indo-European*trísinflu.
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dwís
  4. Ancient Greekδιά (diá)
  5. Ancient Greekδια- (dia-)
  6. Proto-Indo-European*gʷelH-
  7. Proto-Hellenic*gʷəlnō
  8. Ancient Greekβάλλω (bállō)
  9. Ancient Greekδιαβάλλω (diabállō)
  10. Ancient Greekδιάβολος (diábolos)
  11. Koine Greekδιαβολικός (diabolikós)
  12. Late Latindiabolicu
  13. Middle Frenchdiabolique
  14. Middle Englishdiabolik
  15. Englishdiabolic
  16. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  17. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  18. English todaydiabolical

From diabolic + -al.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.