Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fiend"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fiend \Fiend\, n. [OE. fend, find, fiend, feond, fiend, foe, AS.
fe['o]nd; akin to OS. f[=i]ond, D. vijand enemy, OHG.
f[=i]ant, G. feind, Icel. fj[=a]nd, Sw. & Dan. fiende, Goth.
fijands; orig. p. pr. of a verb meaning to hate, AS. fe['o]n,
fe['o]gan, OHG. f[=i]?n, Goth. fijan, Skr. p[=i]y to scorn;
prob. akin to E. feud a quarrel. [root]81. Cf. {Foe},
{Friend}.]
An implacable or malicious foe; one who is diabolically
wicked or cruel; an infernal being; -- applied specifically
to the devil or a demon.
Into this wild abyss the wary fiend Stood on the brink
of Hell and looked a while. --Milton.
O woman! woman! when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell
contains no fouler fiend. --Pope.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fiend
n 1: a cruel wicked and inhuman person [syn: {monster}, {devil},
{demon}, {ogre}]
2: one of the evil spirits of traditional Jewish and Christian
belief [syn: {devil}, {demon}, {daemon}, {daimon}]
3: a person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause)
[syn: {fanatic}]
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