Enemy

How to spell enemy

5 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce enemy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enemy mean?

1. nounA person, group, or force that is actively hostile or opposed to someone.

Enemy in a sentence

• The general studied the movements of the approaching enemy.

• Years of fierce competition turned the two firms into bitter rivals, almost an enemy.

Where does enemy come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin inimicus, which literally meant 'not a friend', formed from the negative prefix in- ('not') and amicus ('friend'). English picked it up in the 1200s through Old French enemi, and the spelling softened the original Latin shape along the way. The hidden 'friend' inside the word is a useful memory aid: amicus also gives us 'amicable' and 'amiable', so an enemy is etymologically just the opposite of an amiable companion. The unstressed middle vowel is the spelling trap, since it sounds like a vague 'uh' yet is written with an 'e'. The same negating in- pattern shows up in many borrowed words, but here it has been worn down to the gentle-looking 'en-'.

How the word is built

• en- (from Latin in-, 'not')
• emy (from amicus, 'friend')