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Apollyon

[uh-pol-yuh n]
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noun
  1. the destroyer; the angel of the bottomless pit; Abaddon. Rev. 9:11.
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Origin of Apollyon

< Greek apollýōn (present participle of apollýnai to utterly destroy), equivalent to ap- ap-2 + olly- destroy + -ōn present participle suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for apollyon

Historical Examples

  • It is Apollyon who tempts Rome thus with the world and the flesh.

    Dreamers of the Ghetto

    I. Zangwill

  • Rhodes was Apollyon and a financier, and the foul fiend himself.

    A Tramp's Notebook

    Morley Roberts

  • Evidently this was a case of possession by Apollyon himself.

  • When Beelzebub had ended his oration, then Apollyon did begin.

  • On the other hand, Apollyon may be waiting for one round the corner of the next street.

British Dictionary definitions for apollyon

Apollyon

noun
  1. New Testament the destroyer, a name given to the Devil (Revelation 9:11)
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Word Origin

C14: via Late Latin from Greek, from apollunai to destroy totally
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for apollyon

Apollyon

destroying angel of the bottomless pit (a name sometimes given to the Devil), late 14c., from present participle of Greek apollyein "to destroy utterly" (from apo- "from, away from" + olluein "to destroy"); a translation of Hebrew Abaddon (q.v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper