Wiktionary

enemy

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishenemy,enemye,enmy,borrowed fromOld Frenchenemi,anemi(ModernFrenchennemi), fromLatininimīcus,fromin-(“not”)+amīcus(“friend”).DisplacedMiddle Englishfeend(“enemy”),fromOld Englishfēond(“enemy”),which survived into ModernEnglishasfiend,but with a different meaning.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/ˈɛnəmi/
  • Audio(US):(file)
  • Hyphenation:en‧e‧my

Noun

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EnglishWikipediahas an article on:
Wikipedia

enemy(pluralenemies)

DEDICATED TO THE
GALLANT DEFENDERS
OFWAKE
8 DEC - 23 DEC 1941
"ENEMYON ISLAND
SITUATION IN DOUBT "
  1. Someone who ishostileto, feelshatredtowards, opposes theinterestsof, or intendsinjuryto someone else.
    Synonyms:foe,unfriend,adversary,nemesis,backfriend
    Antonyms:ally,friend
    underenemyduress
    He made a lot ofenemiesafter reducing the working hours in his department.
    You may not want anyenemies,but sometimes, yourenemieschoose you.
    • 2005,George Lucas,Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,spoken byAnakin Skywalker/Darth Vader(Hayden Christensen):
      If you're not with me, then you're myenemy.
    • 2008,BioWare,Mass Effect,Redwood City: Electronic Arts,→ISBN,→OCLC,PC, scene: Citadel:
      Garrus: Fist knows you're coming. We'll have a better chance if we all work together.
      Wrex: My people have a saying: Seek theenemyof yourenemy,and you will find a friend.
    • 2022March 13,Yevgenia Albats,10:01 from the start, inJournalist risking jail to report from inside Russia speaks out‎[1],CNN:
      I am a knownenemyand I cannot say more than I already said. And my books and my articles and my magazine- whatever could happen to the publication has already happened. What else? They can kill me. OK, you know, nobody promised me that I'm going to live forever.
  2. A hostileforceornation;afightingmember of such a force or nation.
    Synonyms:foe,adversary,nemesis
    Antonyms:ally,friend
    Rally together against a commonenemy.
  3. Somethingharmfulorthreateningto another
    • 2012,John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, inNew York Time‎[2]:
      The very thing the 16 skiers and snowboarders had sought — fresh, soft snow — instantly became theenemy.Somewhere above, a pristine meadow cracked in the shape of a lightning bolt, slicing a slab nearly 200 feet across and 3 feet deep. Gravity did the rest.
  4. (attributive)Of, by, relating to, or belonging to an enemy.
    The building was destroyed byenemybombing.
  5. (video games)Anon-player characterthat tries to harm the player.
    Synonym:mob

Usage notes

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  • Singular and plural verbs can be used interchangeably when referring to sense 2, e.g.the enemy are retreatingvs.the enemy is retreating.

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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Verb

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enemy(third-person singular simple presentenemies,present participleenemying,simple past and past participleenemied)

  1. To make an enemy of.
    • 1963,The Castles and the Crown: Spain, 1451-1555,page51:
      These prelates and nobles, seeing themselves dispossessed by the death of this king don Alfonso, to whom they had adhered, andenemiedwith the king don Enrique his brother, whom they had deserted, were in great fear, dreading the indignation of the king, whom by letters and words they had much injured; and they found no other remedy for their defense but to continue the division which they had begun in the realm, raising for queen of it the princess doña Isabel in place of her brother.
    • 2009,Adam Stephen Alber,Greater Than My Thoughts: A Glimpse Of My Soul,page64:
      But rather the life He has lived People he met Befriended andenemied
    • 2014,Robert Shanafelt, Nathan W. Pino,Rethinking Serial Murder, Spree Killing, and Atrocities,page184:
      Bureaucracy and wider features of a division of labor also facilitates the “othering” and “enemying”associated with systemic violence and makes possible the professionalization of atrocity.
    • 2016,Elif M. Gokcigdem,Fostering Empathy Through Museums,page45:
      But these choices came with point values: friending someone who friended you gave each player fifteen points; friending someone whoenemiedyou gave the enemy-er a whopping twenty-five points but lost the friend-er five points; and if both playersenemiedeach other, both got five points.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed fromOld Frenchenemi,anemi,fromLatininimīcus.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key):/ˈɛnɛmiː/,/ˈɛnmiː/

Noun

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enemy(pluralenemys)

  1. Anenemy,foe,oradversary:
    1. Anopponentof the truereligion.
    2. Ahostilecombatant.
    3. (Christianity)TheDevil;Satan.
  2. A malign orhostileforce.
  3. Hostility;enmity.
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Descendants

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  • English:enemy
  • Scots:enemy

References

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Old French

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Noun

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enemyoblique singular,m(oblique pluralenemys,nominative singularenemys,nominative pluralenemy)

  1. Alternative form ofenemi

Descendants

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