Thank you Robert,
It is interesting how that definition, 'to slander someone', ties in
with the message I was conveying about how we often too quickly jump
to (incorrect) conclusions about the meaning of certain posts.
I do think that the contraction I provided, that devil = do evil, is
pertinent also, even if it is not the true delineation of the word.
Thanks again,
Stuart
On Thu, 25 Jul 2002 00:20:47
Robert Schneider wrote:
>
>Stuart writes:
>
>> Recently, it occurred to me that the word 'devil' is probably a
>> contraction of 'do evil' = d'evil =devil. I wonder if anyone has any
>> further hard information that might support this.
>
>Etymology from Bob the Classics Prof. (courtesy of Webster's Third College
>Dictionary):
>
> "devil" <ME "devel" <OE "deofol" < LL(E) [Late Latin, Ecclesiastical]
>"diabolus" <Gr "diabolos," n. from v. "diaballein," "to slander," lit., "to
>throw across." The Gr. form appears in both the LXX, where it translates
>Hebr. "Satan," and the NT, whence it becomes the common term used in both
>Greek and Latin patristic literature.
>
> "Diabolos" is one of the many words in Greek that were latinized as
>Greek-speaking Gentile Christianity became established in the Latin-speaking
>portions of the Roman Empire. This was probably due in large part to the
>fact that the Liturgy in those portions was originally celebrated in Greek
>(in Rome Greek was the language of worship as late as the 3rd c.) and only
>later rendered into Latin. That is why so many words in Church Latin (e.g.,
>episcopus, ecclesia, baptismum) are simply transliterations of Greek words.
>
> So, when someone slanders us and we respond by saying, "You devil!" we
>are using the term correctly.
>
>Bob
>
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