Belial

See also: Bélial

English

Alternative forms

• Beliar

Etymology

Latin Bĕlĭal, from Hebrew בְלִיַּעַל. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “What is etymological meaning?”) Of uncertain origin. It has been conventionally been interpreted as בְּלִי (“without”) + ya'al "use". Therefore worthless or without purpose or value. Another proposal is: From Hebrew: verb Bala "to wear out". Implications of degradation, decay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbiːli.əl/, /ˈbiːl.jəl/, (spelling pronunciation) /bəˈlaɪ.əl/

Proper noun

Belial

1. (mythology) A wicked demon in Christian and Jewish apocrypha.
   • 2016 February 24, Nancy Rosenfeld, The Human Satan in Seventeenth-Century English Literature: From Milton to Rochester, Routledge, →ISBN, page 93:

     Here, too, the poet calls attention to Belial's role as one who blurs the borderline between essence and appearance: Belial himself seems fair (physically attractive), but is empty inside, and Milton was surely aware that in Hebrew the first syllable of the fallen angel's name means without.

Translations

a wicked demon in Christian and Jewish apocrypha

• Arabic: بليعال m
• Esperanto: Belialo
• French: Bélial (fr) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: Βελιάρ m (Beliár), Βελίαλ m (Belíal)

• Japanese: ベリアル (Beriaru)
• Korean: 벨리알 (Bellial)
• Polish: Belial (pl) m
• Russian: Белиа́л (ru) m (Beliál)
• Swedish: Beliar (sv) c, Belial (sv) c

Anagrams

• Biella, alible, labile, liable