PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
No. Bosworth–Toller gives enemy, foe, and Devil, while OED separates literal enemy, the Devil, demons, and malevolent-person uses already present in Old English.
/ˈfeː.ond/ · Old English strong masculine nd-agent noun
An Old English enemy, foe, and Devil noun inherited from the Germanic lexicalized present-participial formation *fi(j)and-. OED’s revised 2026 entry treats fēond and fīond as dialectal Old English forms, documents i-mutated fīend and fȳnd inside the inherited nd-stem inflection, and traces the word through a highly variable Middle English record into modern fiend. Bosworth–Toller supplies the Old English paradigm and examples; the Middle English Dictionary independently reports 188 quotations across eight senses. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV folio 180v was directly inspected at Beowulf 2289, where feondes modifies fotlast, the foe’s footprint.
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
Documents the Old English sense range.
Definition and examples: enemy, foe, the DevilSeparates literal enemy, Satan, fallen spirits, and cruel-person uses.
Meaning and use, senses 1–4The dossier keeps the senses distinct instead of retrojecting modern fiend onto every token.