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Webster 1913 Edition

Evil

E-vil

(ē′v’l)
Adj.
[OE.
evel
,
evil
,
ifel
,
uvel
, AS.
yfel
; akin to OFries,
evel
, D.
euvel
, OS. & OHG.
ubil
, G.
übel
, Goth.
ubils
, and perh. to E.
over
.]
1.
Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous; not good; worthless or deleterious; poor;
as, an
evil
beast; and
evil
plant; an
evil
crop.
A good tree can not bring forth
evil
fruit.
Matt. vii. 18.
2.
Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious;
as,
evil
conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like
.
Ah, what a sign it is of
evil
life,
When death’s approach is seen so terrible.
Shakespeare
3.
Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous;
as,
evil
tidings;
evil
arrows;
evil
days.
Because he hath brought up an
evil
name upon a virgin of Israel.
Deut. xxii. 19.
The owl shrieked at thy birth – an
evil
sign.
Shakespeare
Evil
news rides post, while good news baits.
Milton.
Evil eye
,
an eye which inflicts injury by some magical or fascinating influence. It is still believed by the ignorant and superstitious that some persons have the supernatural power of injuring by a look.

–
Evil speaking
,
speaking ill of others; calumny; censoriousness.
–
The evil one
,
the Devil; Satan.
Syn. – Mischieveous; pernicious; injurious; hurtful; destructive; wicked; sinful; bad; corrupt; perverse; wrong; vicious; calamitous.

E′vil

(ē′v’l)
Noun.
1.
Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings; injury; mischief; harm; – opposed to
good
.
Evils
which our own misdeeds have wrought.
Milton.
The
evil
that men do lives after them.
Shakespeare
2.
Moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offence; wickedness; depravity.
The heart of the sons of men is full of
evil
.
Eccl. ix. 3.
3.
malady or disease; especially in the phrase
king's evil
, the scrofula.
[R.]
Shak.
He [Edward the Confessor] was the first that touched for the
evil
.
Addison.

E′vil

,
adv.
In an evil manner; not well; ill; badly; unhappily; injuriously; unkindly.
Shak.
It went
evil
with his house.
1 Chron. vii. 23.
The Egyptians
evil
entreated us, and affected us.
Deut. xxvi. 6.

Webster 1828 Edition

Evil

E'VIL

,
Adj.
e'vl. [Heb. to be unjust or injurious, to defraud.]
1.
Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief.
Some evil beast hath devoured him. Gen.37.
2.
Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.
3.
Unfortunate; unhappy; producing sorrow, distress, injury or calamity; as evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days.

E'VIL

,
Noun.
Evil is natural or moral. Natural evil is any thing which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.
Moral evil is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.
There are also evils called civil, which affect injuriously the peace or prosperity of a city or state; and political evils, which injure a nation, in its public capacity.
All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and right are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.
2.
Misfortune; mischief; injury.
There shall no evil befall thee. Ps.91.
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself. Prov.22.
3.
Depravity; corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity.
The heart of the sons of men is full of evil. Eccles.9.
4.
Malady; as the king's evil or scrophula.

E'VIL

,
adv.
[generally contracted to ill.]
1.
Not well; not with justice or propriety; unsuitable.
Evil it beseems thee.
2.
Not virtuously; not innocently.
3.
Not happily; unfortunately.
It went evil with his house.
4.
Injuriously; not kindly.
The Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us.
In composition, evil, denoting something bad or wrong, is often contracted to ill.

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