Evil

In Wiktionary, "evil" is defined as:

"The forces/behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good. Evil generally seeks own benefit at the expense of others and is based on general malevolence."

Wikipedia says that

"Evil describes willful, immoral acts. It also serves as a blanket term for bad things."

The Online Etymology Dictionary defines "evil" as

"O.E. yfel (Kentish evel) "bad, vicious," from P.Gmc. *ubilaz (cf. O.Saxon ubil, Goth. ubils), from PIE *upelo-, giving the word an original sense of "uppity, overreaching bounds" which slowly worsened. "In OE., as in all the other early Teut. langs., exc. Scandinavian, this word is the most comprehensive adjectival expression of disapproval, dislike or disparagement" [OED]. Evil was the word the Anglo-Saxons used where we would use bad, cruel, unskillful, defective (adj.), or harm, crime, misfortune, disease. The meaning "extreme moral wickedness" was in O.E., but did not become the main sense until 18c. Evil eye (L. oculus malus) was O.E. eage yfel."

Encyclopedia.com, citing The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology

"Date: 1996 | Author: T. F. HOAD | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996.

evil adj. and sb. OE. yfel = OS. ubil, MDu. evel (Du. euvel), OHG. ubil (G. übel), Goth. ubils :- Gmc. *ubilaz, prob. f. IE. base *up- (see OVER), the primary sense being ‘exceeding due limits’."


The Catholic Encyclopedia (www.NewAdvent.org) has an extensive discussion of various conceptions of the term "evil".