English → Latin
“devil” in Latin
diabolusdevilLactantiusA masculine cognomen — famously held byhomō̆human, person, man; male human being, man; term of address to male peers, especially by another man: man, fellow, mate,
The English word devil itself goes back to Latin diabolus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
devil
diabolus (διάβολος, Essl.): pravus et subdolus spiritus (Lactantius): also cacodaemon (Eccl.). To cast out devils, daemonas adjuratione divini nominis expellere ac fugare (Lactantius). A devil’s brat, Acherontis pabulum (Plaut., Cas., 2, 1, 12). Go to the devil! abi in malam rem! i tu hinc, quo dignus es (comedy). ImPROP., homo (= fellow; e.g., a poor devil, etc.). A devil, homo perditissimus.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for devil?
- The usual Latin words for “devil” are diabolus, Lactantius, homō̆. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.