yfel

yfel

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of yvel (“evil”)

• efel, eofel

From Proto-West Germanic *ubil, from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz.

• IPA^(key): /ˈy.fel/,

yfel (comparative wiersa, superlative wierrest)

1. bad
2. bad in a moral sense, evil

• Yfel was the general word for “bad”, not just “evil”. Hence phrases such as yfel ġesihþ (“bad eyesight”), yfel hlyst (“bad hearing”), yfel wyrd (“bad fortune”), and yfel bȳsn (“bad example”).

• Middle English: yvel, uvel, evel
  • English: evil
  • Scots: evil, ewil

yfel n

1. something bad or bad things collectively; harm, misfortune
2. evil
   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies

     ...;sē ūs ġescylt wið eallum yfellum.

     ...;He shieldeth us against every evil.

Strong a-stem:

• (adjective): un-
• gal
• unweorþ
• trag

• gōd (“good”)
• til (“good”)

• yfele (“badly”)
• yfelian (“to wrong”)
• yfelsacian (“to blaspheme”)
• yfelwillende (“malicious”)

• Middle English: yvel, uvel, evel
  • English: evil
  • Scots: evil, ewil