核心詞義
n. 魔鬼；撒旦；家伙；惡棍；淘氣鬼；冒失鬼
vt. 虐待；（用扯碎機(jī)）扯碎；（替作家，律師等）做助手
速記技巧
詞源記憶法
英語單詞devil（魔鬼）的真正歷史比所傳devil乃do-evil（作惡）之縮略的古老傳說要復(fù)雜得多。《舊約全書》中的Satan（撒旦）實(shí)際上是devil的前身，它的意思是adversary（敵手），即“上帝和人類的敵手”。當(dāng)希伯來文的《舊約全書》被譯成希臘文時(shí)，譯者將撒旦翻譯成了diabolos一詞，而diabolos在希臘文中原義是“誹謗者”，是圣經(jīng)的影響才使它獲得我們今天熟悉的詞義“魔鬼”或“惡魔”的。=與devil詞義接近的單詞demon（惡魔）同樣源自希臘語。它源自希臘單詞daimon，本意是“半神、守護(hù)神、邪神”。在希臘文的《圣經(jīng)》中，用daimon來表示“異教神靈、不潔神靈”。因此，英語單詞demon泛指各種惡魔，而devil原本專指撒旦，后來才泛指惡魔。=devil：['dev(?)l]n.魔鬼，撒旦，惡棍，淘氣鬼vt.虐待，折磨。
知識擴(kuò)展
習(xí)語積累
習(xí)語 n. be a devil (BrE) （用以鼓勵(lì)）別怕，勇敢點(diǎn) people say Be a devil! to encourage sb to do sth that they are not sure about doing Go on, be a devil, buy both of them. 來，怕什么，兩個(gè)都買了吧！ better the devil you know (than the devil you don't) (saying) 熟悉的魔鬼比不熟悉的魔鬼好；不要嫌熟悉的環(huán)境不好，換個(gè)不熟悉的環(huán)境可能更糟 used to say that it is easier and wiser to stay in a bad situation that you know and can deal with rather than change to a new situation which may be much worse between the devil and the deep blue sea 進(jìn)退維谷；左右為難 in a difficult situation where there are two equally unpleasant or unacceptable choices the devil (old-fashioned) 非常困難；令人非常不快 very difficult or unpleasant These berries are the devil to pick because they're so small. 這些漿果太小了，很難摘。 the devil looks after his own (saying) 壞人多好運(yùn)；壞蛋自有鬼照顧；惡人自有惡人幫 bad people often seem to have good luck the devil makes work for idle hands (saying) 人閑生是非 people who do not have enough to do often start to do wrong She blamed the crimes on the local jobless teenagers. ‘The devil makes work for idle hands,’ she would say. 她認(rèn)為那些違法行為是當(dāng)?shù)氐臒o業(yè)青少年所為，總是說：“人一閑，惹麻煩”。 a devil of a job/time (old-fashioned) 費(fèi)力（或令人討厭）的事；難熬（或令人不快）的日子 a very difficult or unpleasant job or time I've had a devil of a job finding you. 我費(fèi)了九牛二虎之力才找到你。 go to the devil! (old-fashioned, informal) 滾開；見鬼去；去你的 used, in an unfriendly way, to tell sb to go away like the devil (old-fashioned, informal) 拼命；賣力；飛快 very hard, fast, etc. We ran like the devil. 我們跑得飛快。 speak/talk of the devil (informal) 說到某人，某人就到 people say speak/talk of the devil when sb they have been talking about appears unexpectedly Well, speak of the devil─here's Alice now! 嗬，說曹操，曹操就到——瞧，艾麗斯這不來啦！ what, where, who,
詞根詞綴
詞根 vil= base 卑劣 devil n. 魔鬼 de 加強(qiáng) + vil 卑劣 → 卑劣到極點(diǎn) → 魔鬼 deviltry n. 惡行 de 加強(qiáng) + vil 卑劣 + try → 卑劣的行為 → 惡行 evil n. 邪惡 e 加強(qiáng) + vil 卑劣 → 十分卑劣 → 邪惡 revile v. 辱罵 re 一再 + vil 卑劣 + e → 一再做卑劣的事 → 辱罵〔別人〕 vile adj. 卑鄙的 vilify v. 誹謗 vil 卑劣 + ify 使… → 使別人成為卑劣的人 → 誹謗 villain n. 壞蛋，惡棍 vill〔= vil〕卑劣 + ain 表人 → 壞蛋，惡棍
精選例句
高考 考研
1、 He?s a crafty old devil.
他是個(gè)奸詐狡猾的家伙。
來源:秒詞邦搜集整理
2、 He's a crafty old devil.
他是個(gè)奸詐狡猾的家伙。
來源:《牛津詞典》
1、 In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her.
在2006年上映的電影《穿普拉達(dá)的女魔頭》中，梅麗爾·斯特里普飾演的米蘭達(dá)·普里斯利斥責(zé)她那毫無魅力的助手以為高級時(shí)裝不會(huì)影響她。
來源:2013 年全國碩士研究生招生考試英語（一）Text 1