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Belial

[bee-lee-uh l, beel-yuh l]
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noun
  1. Theology. the spirit of evil personified; the devil; Satan.
  2. (in Milton's Paradise Lost) one of the fallen angels.
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Origin of Belial

< Hebrew bəliyyaʿal, equivalent to bəlī without + yaʿal, worth, use
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for belial

Historical Examples

  • Count not Thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial, wherever she is this day.

    The Manxman

    Hall Caine

  • The ingenuity of these sons of Belial in their pranks was beyond description.

    War from the Inside

    Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock

  • Simply glancing at it, you groveled hand and foot in Belial's grip.

    G-r-r-r...!

    Roger Arcot

  • But how is it,” said I, “that Belial does not wish to have these adorers himself?

  • He was going to fiddle no more for sons of Belial and daughters of Aholah.

    The Belovd Vagabond

    William J. Locke

British Dictionary definitions for belial

Belial

noun
  1. a demon mentioned frequently in apocalyptic literature: identified in the Christian tradition with the devil or Satan
  2. (in the Old Testament and rabbinical literature) worthlessness or wickedness
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Word Origin

C13: from Hebrew bəlīyya`al, from bəlīy without + ya`al worth
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 belial

Belial

early 13c., from Hebrew bel'yya'al "destruction," literally "worthless," from b'li "without" + ya'al "use." Wickedness as an evil force (Deut. xiii:13); later treated as a proper name for Satan (2 Cor. vi:15), though Milton made him one of the fallen angels.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper