enemy
UK[ˈenəmi]US[ˈenəmi]
n
a person who hates and opposes another person and tries to harm them or stop them from doing something
n
a country or group that you are fighting a war against; the soldiers, etc. of this country or group
n
something that harms or weakens something else
Morpheme Breakdown
en
emy
en
not
emy
friend
Etymology
the word 'enemy' traces its lineage back to latin inimicus, which itself is a compound of the prefix in- (meaning 'not') and the root amicus (meaning 'friend'). this literal construction, 'not a friend', passed into old french as enemi before being adopted into middle english. the semantic logic is direct and enduring: the core concept evolved from a personal state of hostility ('unfriendly') to encompass both a personal adversary and a collective military foe. the phonetic shift from inimicus to 'enemy' involved the common sound change of latin in- to old french en- and the simplification of amicus to emy.
Analysis
Structure: en (not) + emy (friend)
en- (prefix of Latin origin, meaning 'not' or 'in'). -emy (root from Latin amicus, meaning 'friend').
Examples
after the argument, he felt like his former colleague had become his enemy.
the two nations were bitter enemies for decades.
complacency is the enemy of progress.