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DEVIL
Definition of DEVIL
proper noun
The chief devil; Satan.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, from Proto-West Germanic *diubul, from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Bavarian Teifl (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
6 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
17th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
0.7%
of traced words share this origin (526)
branch · 2.1% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DEVIL · 14 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Old Norse, Swedish.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DEVIL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 19 boards so far. 35 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 146, 13 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 14 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
DEVIL starts with D and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read DEILV - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Same letters, different word
2 other words use exactly these letters. Worth knowing at the board: an anagram fits a grid the same way.
Words that start DEVIL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 7
Could you have found DEVIL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER