enemyn.1adj.
/ˈɛnᵻmi/, U.S. /ˈɛnəmi/ A. n.1† II. Adverse disposition.
I. An unfriendly or hostile person.
1.
a. One that cherishes hatred, that wishes or seeks to do ill to another; also in weaker sense, an adversary, antagonist, opponent. Const. of (or genitive case), to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > enemy > [noun]
witherwinc897
foemaneOE
i-foeOE
withersakec960
fiendc975
foeOE
witherlingc1000
unwine1050
unholda1200
andsetec1200
unfriendc1275
un-i-winec1275
adversaryc1350
enemy1362
hatera1382
evil-willinga1400
fedea1400
contraryc1405
inimi1423
overthwarter?c1450
evil-willer1460
Moabitea1461
heavy friend?1518
Satanas1530
adverse1593
malengine1601
distresser1616
viand1616
hostile1838
unfriendly1973
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. xi. 148 He..biddeþ [vs]..Blessen vr enemys.
1398 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 5 Enpresoned falslich by enme.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 25350 For-giue þine eneme.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 14827 Quar es he þat godds enemy?
c1440 York Myst. xvii. 329 Herowde is oure enmye.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) viii. 80 Magre all his enymys [1489 Adv. ennymys].
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 33 The handys..defend the rest of the body, from the injury of ennymys utward.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. v. 140 Prodigious birth of loue is this to me, That I should loue a loathed enemie . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. iii. 19 Within this roofe The enemie of all your graces liues. View more context for this quotation
1653 Trial Major Faulconer in Howell St. Trials (1816) V. 359 He was an enemy to himself in spending his estate.
1664 Duke of Albemarle Let. 14 Jan. in A. Marvell Wks. (1875) II. 98 A worke of their enimyes and not of their neighbours and friends.
1792 J. Almon Anecd. Life W. Pitt (octavo ed.) I. ii. 45 An enemy to his fellow-subjects.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany (ed. 2) II. 215 A stake was driven into the ground before his door, as a token that he was a public enemy.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 15 Where can I get me.., arms to fight my enemy?
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 12 The man of the world, that worst enemy of the world.
b.
(a) spec. the Enemy: the Devil (cf. fiend n.). Also (our) ghostly or great enemy; †the enemy of hell; the enemy of mankind, the enemy of souls, etc. See also old enemy n. (a) at old adj. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun] > as enemy or fiend
witherwinc897
fienda1000
our foe?c1225
adversary1340
enemyc1384
fedea1400
our ghostly enemy1447
our ghostly foea1529
arch-foe1615
arch-traitor1751
arch-enemy1850
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke x. 19 I haue ȝouun to ȝou power of defoulinge, othir tredinge..on al the vertu of the enemy.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 131 The olde enemy cryde openliche in þe ayer.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) 9 That tentacyoun Betoknyth..Of oure gostly enmye.
a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 125 She had vij husbondes, the whiche were mischeued and slayne bi the Annemy of helle.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Biiv The prince of derknesse..our gostly ennemy the deuyll.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 221 Be illusion of the ennimie.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Visitacion of Sicke f. xix* Defende him from the daunger of the enemie.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 273. ¶8 Another Principal Actor in this Poem is the great Enemy of Mankind.
1820 W. Scott Abbot II. i. 10 I defy the Old Enemy to unmask me when I chuse to keep my vizard on.
(b) enemy of the people n. a common form of indictment used by popular leaders, esp. Communists, against their political opponents.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > enemy > [noun] > deadly enemy > public enemy
public enemy1548
enemy of the people1888
public enemy number one1930
Great Satan1967
1888 E. M. Aveling tr. An Enemy of Society iv, in H. Ellis Plays by Ibsen 288 He's an enemy of the people!
1904 J. Conrad Nostromo iii. xiii. 477 Comrade Fidanza,..you have refused all aid from that doctor. Is he really a dangerous enemy of the people?
1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 680/1 The purge against Trotskyists and the hunt for ‘enemies of the people and socialism’.
1955 Treatment Brit. P.O.W.'s in Korea (H.M.S.O.) 13 The battered condition of those who had just returned to the compound as an example of what could happen to anyone who showed himself to be ‘an enemy of the people’.
1958 Economist 15 Nov. 589/2 The deputy minister of the interior recently admitted that about 700,000 enemies of the people..still exist in Hungary.
c. the great or last enemy: death (cf. 1 Corinthians xv. 26).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [noun] > personified or as an agent
deathOE
dragon?a1513
stinger1552
stretch-legc1560
king of terrors1610
divorcer?1611
reaper1650
raw-bone1784
Small-Back1823
grim reaper1847
the great or last enemy1885
scytheman1909
1885 Border Lances 166 Looking to see the great Enemy arise from the waters, and come up to enter within the house where the knight lay.
d. transferred and figurative (a) One who hates or opposes (a cause, custom, state of things). (b) Something that operates prejudicially upon, counteracts the action of.
ΚΠ
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. xx. 237 Eyen ben enmyes and theues.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 189 So mak'st thou faith an enemy to faith. View more context for this quotation
1658 J. Evelyn tr. N. de Bonnefons French Gardiner 173 To destroy these Enemies [sc. Palmer worms], you should [etc.].
1679 W. Penn Addr. Protestants (1692) i. viii. 31 Vice, the Enemy of Religion, is at the same time, the Enemy of Humane Society.
1782 Let. in Amyot Windham (1812) I. 18 One was an enemy to thinking;—the other to drinking.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 229 The true judge..ought to be the enemy of all pandering to the pleasure of the spectators.
e. (to be) nobody's enemy but one's own: (to be) responsible only for one's own misfortunes.
ΚΠ
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. H2 I thinke him an honest man if he would but liue within his compasse, and generally no mannes foe but his owne.]
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 21/1 He is no mans enemy but his owne.
1719 D. Defoe Farther Adventures Robinson Crusoe 265 I had been no Body's Enemy but my own.
1849 E. Bulwer-Lytton Caxtons II. xiii. iv. 325 Guy Bolding, with all his faults, was one of those excellent creatures who are nobody's enemies but their own.
1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xxv. 263 He is quite a good fellow—nobody's enemy but his own.
2. One belonging to a hostile army or nation; an armed foe.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > [noun] > enemy
foemaneOE
foec1275
enemy1393
alien enemy1579
foemate1592
gomer1978
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 15 The higher hond he [sc. Bacchus] hadde And victoire of his enemies.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 6592 I ledd ȝou thoru þe strand, vte of all ȝour enmys hand.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1204 And harde hurles þurȝ þe oste, er enmies hit wyste.
c1460 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (1714) 121 His Highness schal be..of Power to subdue his Ennymyes.
1461 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 392 God..send yowe vyttorye of yowre elmyse.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) v. iv. 21 No Enemy Shall euer take aliue the Noble Brutus. View more context for this quotation
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. ix. 559 To take charge of those Horse whom only their Friends feared, and their Enemies laughed at.
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 350. ⁋1 The Relief which a Man of Honour would bestow upon an Enemy barbarously treated.
1769 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. IV. 83 A rebel is not an enemy.
1874 G. Bancroft Footpr. of Time i. 46 All outside the family, tribe, or nation were usually held as enemies.
3.
a. The hostile force. Originally only as quasi-personified, with agreement in singular; now also as collective with agreement in plural. Also, a hostile ship.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > [noun] > hostile, foreign, or predatory
wiþerþeodc1175
foe1565
enemya1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 251 'Tis better that the Enemie seeke vs. View more context for this quotation
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 159 They strike at the enemy in his weakest and most vulnerable part.
1813 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) XI. 35 To draw the attention of the enemy to this quarter.
1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. vi. i. 370 He sprang on board the enemy alone.
1867 C. H. Pearson Early & Middle Ages Eng. I. 471 A storm of arrows completed the rout of the first line of the enemy; and their men-at-arms were, etc.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1879 R. A. Proctor Pleasant Ways Sci. viii. 174 Cold is the real enemy which bars the way towards the Pole.
c. colloquial or slang. how goes the enemy: = ‘what is the time?’
ΚΠ
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xix. 179 How goes the enemy, Snobb?
1839 P. J. Bailey Festus 227 How goes the enemy? What can he mean? He asks the hour.
4. [Apparently a substantive use of sense B. 1.] = enmity n. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > [noun]
heteeOE
nitheeOE
fiendshipc900
hatingOE
hatec1175
loathnessc1175
foeshipa1200
hatreda1225
foredenc1275
bitterhead1340
enmityc1380
bitternessa1382
haynec1386
enemy1398
heart-burningc1425
affection1485
dislovea1533
pique1532
haturea1563
animosity1568
foehood?1578
animoseness1730
hard feeling1803
dispeace1825
needle1874
bad mind1939
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) viii. xiii. 320 Vnder the planete Mars is conteyned werre and batayle, prison and enmye.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 212 For to him he hadde a prevyȝe enmyȝe.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 87 On sleþ an oþer bi enemy.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 15 Þat cursing be riȝtwyse longen [þre condiciouns]..riȝtwisnes in þe kirk..vnriȝtwisnes in þe man cursid, & enmey of þe obstinat.
B. adj. (In many examples the word admits of being regarded as the noun used attributive.)† 1. Adverse, hostile, ill-disposed, unfriendly. Const. to, with. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > hostility > [adjective]
witherwardc888
unholdc900
fremda1000
foeOE
hatelyOE
onwardOE
fiendlyc1050
witherc1175
unbaina1300
quedec1300
wrong1340
aliena1382
enemiablea1382
enemyfula1382
enemyc1384
ingrate1393
unfriendly1425
undisposed1456
oppugnanta1513
infest1513
enemious?1529
cold1557
enemylike1561
enemyly1573
ingratefulc1575
opposed1584
misliking1586
infestuous1593
infensive1596
infestious1597
affrontous1598
foe-hearted1598
ill-affecteda1599
inimicous1598
friendless?1611
haggardly1635
infensea1641
inimicitious1641
inimicitial1656
inimical1678
inamicable1683
indisposed1702
uneasy1725
hostile1791
adversarial1839
chilly1841
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 1 Cor. xv. 26 Forsoth at the laste, the enemy deeth schal be distroyed.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 12930 Þe enemy fend þo him [sc. Jesus] souȝt.
?1521 A. Barclay Cytezen & Uplondyshman (1847) p. lxiii Enemie to muses, is wretched povertie.
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties iii. f. 126v To mannes nature..crueltie is most enemie.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 444 Your wife..would not hold out enemy for euer. View more context for this quotation
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 127 Harts are opposed by Wolues. [Margin] The enemy beastes to Harts.
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) 137 I have beene shipwrackt, yet am not enemy with the sea or winds. View more context for this quotation
1651 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa I. i. iv. 399 He has nothing that's Enemy to us but his name.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. vii. 127 Some evil Genius, Enemy to Mankind, must have been the first Contriver.
2. Of or pertaining to a hostile army or nation; standing in the relation of an enemy, hostile.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > [adjective] > hostile
enemya1425
hostile1597
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ecclus. xlvi. 7 He made assauȝt aȝens the folk enemy [1382 enmyable folc].
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales xi. viii. 149 Being captaines of enemie nations.
1623 J. Bingham tr. Xenophon Hist. 82 The Countrey is enemy, and we in danger to lose many Souldiers.
1653 H. Holcroft tr. Procopius Gothick Warre iv. 149 in tr. Procopius Hist. Warres Justinian Narses medled not with Ariminum..nor with any other Enemy-towne.
1655 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. I. iii. 99 The Carduchi, a people enemy to the Persians.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. iii. 324 There is a party of enemy Indians coming that way.
1793 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) IV. 25 Enemy goods are lawful prize.
1881 J. Westlake in Academy 15 Jan. 14/3 Distinguishing..between the enemy character of individuals and of their State.
1891 G. Meredith One of our Conquerors III. vi. 108 The young..have either emotion or imagination to fold them defensively from an enemy world.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 5 Aug. 6/3 Stock requisitioned during the late war from private enemy owners.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 5 Apr. 1/3 The destination..is presumed to exist if the goods are consigned to enemy authorities, or to a contractor established in the enemy country who..supplies articles of this kind to the enemy.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 5 Apr. 2/1 If goods consigned to any trader supplying an enemy population could be seized.
1915 J. H. Morgan tr. Ger. War Bk. 113 Usages of war in regard to enemy territory and its inhabitants.
1915 N.Y. Tribune 30 Mar. 8/3 British naval officers in their reports have also referred to ‘enemy’ ships and fleets.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. v. 233 ‘No, not an enemy agent.’ ‘Certainly not, sir, but a frivolous, talkative girl.’
1946 ‘G. Orwell’ Crit. Ess. 137 Koestler..was once again thrown into prison as an enemy alien.
Compounds
General attributive: instrumental.
enemy-controlled adj.
ΚΠ
1918 Act 8 & 9 Geo. V c. 31 §8 Any property belonging to a company which is an enemy-controlled corporation.
enemy-held adj.
ΚΠ
1937 Daily Tel. 19 Oct. 15/2 Enemy-held Channel ports would no more have deprived England of the command of the sea than enemy-held Ostend and Zeebrugge did.
1946 W. S. Churchill Secret Session Speeches 45 The enemy-held Atlantic ports and airfields.
enemy occupied adj.
ΚΠ
1919 J. M. Keynes Econ. Consequences Peace (1920) 108 To maintain the civilian French population in the enemy-occupied districts.
1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. iii. 38 The enemy-occupied countries.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
enemyn.2
/ˈɛnᵻmi/, U.S. /ˈɛnəmi/ regional.
= anemone n. 1.
ΚΠ
1864 Ld. Tennyson Northern Farmer: Old Style ix, in Enoch Arden, etc. 132 They fun un theer a-laäid on 'is faäce Doon i' the woild 'enemies.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† enemyv.
Obsolete. rare.
intransitive. To be hostile to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > hostility > be hostile [verb (intransitive)]
witherc1000
enemy1382
to have a snout on1941
1382 J. Wyclif Psalms xxxiv. 19 Ouer ioȝe not to me that enemyen [1388 ben aduersaries] to me wickeli.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > hatred > hostility > [noun] > act of hostility > (display of) hostility
enemying?1529
?1529 S. Fish Supplicacyon for Beggers 9 So then here was enmying, enuying, laughing, etc.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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n.1adj.1362
n.21864
v.1382