What is the etymology of the word _devil_? This may appear an unnecessary
question, since we have a regular chain of etyma, [Greek: diabolos,]
_diabolus_, _diavolo_, _devil_. But it is the first of this chain that
puzzles me. I am aware that it is considered a translation of [Hebrew:
SAT`AN], and is derived usually from [Greek: diaballein], _calumniare_. But
[Hebrew: SAT`AN] means _adversarius_, consequently the rendering would not
be accurate. As the word in classical writers always means a false accuser,
and never a supernatural agent of evil, I doubt the correctness of the
usual derivations in the case of ecclesiastical usage; and am inclined to
consider it one of the oriental words, in a Hellenistic dress, with which
the Septuagint and Greek Testament are replete. Mr. Borrow, in _Lavengro_,
instances as a reason for believing that divine and devilish were
originally the same words, the similarity of the gypsy word _Un-debel_,
God, and our word _devil_. Struck with this remark, on consideration of the
subject, I perceived that there were several other coincidences of the same
kind, as follows:--The Greek [Greek: daimôn] means either a good or bad
spirit of superhuman power. The Zend word _afrîtî_, "blessed," corresponds
to the Arabic _afrît_, "a rebellious angel." The Latin _divus_, "a god,"
(and of course [Greek: Dios], with all its variations,) belongs to the same
family as the Persian _dîv_, "a wizard or demon;" while the _jin_ or _jan_
of the _Arabian Nights_ answer to the forms _Zan_, _Zêna_, _Zeus_, _Janus_,
_Djana_ or _Diana_. All words denoting deified power, and employed by the
inhabitants of Greece and Umbria.
These singular resemblances may prove that fetish worship was more widely
spread than is generally believed, and I think justify my doubts as to the
etymology of the word in question.