diawl

Welsh

Alternative forms

• jawl (eye dialect, common as a minced spelling)

Etymology

From Middle Welsh diawl, dieuyl, from Proto-Brythonic *diaβl (compare Breton diaoul, Cornish dyowl) borrowed from Vulgar Latin *diablus, from Ecclesiastical Latin or Latin diabolus, from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos). Doublet of diafol.

Pronunciation

• (standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /djau̯l/
  • (colloquial) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒau̯l/
• Rhymes: -au̯l

Noun

diawl m (plural diawliaid or diefyl)

1. devil

Derived terms

• baw diawl (“asafoetida”)
• diawlio (“to swear”)
• dieflig (“devilish, satanic”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of diawl

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
diawl	ddiawl	niawl	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “diawl”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “diawl”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies