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E·blis

(ē-blēs, ĕblĭs) or I·blis (ĭ-blēs)

The principal evil spirit or devil of Islamic tradition.

[Arabic 'iblīs, probably ultimately from Greek diabolos, Satan, the Devil (perhaps via Aramaic *diabolos, *dibolos, with loss of initial d- possibly through reinterpretation as di-'iblā, the one of mourning di-, the one of + 'iblā, mourning); see DEVIL.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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