archenemy

Dictionary: arch·en·e·my (ärch-ĕn'ə-mē) pronunciation

A principal enemy.
often Archenemy The Devil; Satan. Used with the.

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Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (November 2008)

An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis (sometimes spelled arch-enemy, arch-foe, arch-villain or arch-nemesis) is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy (compare nemesis).^[1]^[2]^[3] The reason why the particular villain stands out more than the rest of the protagonist's rogues gallery varies; they may be the hero's strongest enemy (Doctor Doom/The Fantastic Four), have strong connections with the hero's past (the Master/the Doctor), caused the hero a great deal of personal pain (the Joker/Batman in most continuities), has the most personal grudge against the hero (Lex Luthor/Superman), or may be the most recurring enemy (Bowser/Mario).^[4] In certain cases, it is possible for a hero to possess more than one archenemy, as in the case of Spider-Man with Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom where all three villains have established themselves, at various times, as the most recurring and the most iconic of Spider-Man's rogues gallery.

Etymology

The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated around the mid-16^th century, from the words arch- and enemy.^[3]

Notes

^ "archenemy - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archenemy. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
^ Wicaksono, Rachel. "BBC World Service". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page23.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-06-26.
^ ^a ^b "archenemy definition". Dictionary. Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/archenemy. Retrieved on 2008-09-07.
^ Albert, Aaron. "Top Ten Comic Book Archenemies - Superhero and Villain Arch-rivals". About.com. http://comicbooks.about.com/od/characters/tp/archenemies.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-25.

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Translations: Archenemy

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ærkefjende

Nederlands (Dutch)
aartsvijand

Français (French)
n. - ennemi mortel, ennemi par excellence

Deutsch (German)
n. - Erzfeind

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - υπ' αριθμόν ένα εχθρός, μεγαλύτερος/πρώτιστος εχθρός

Italiano (Italian)
nemico mortale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - arquiinimigo (m)

Русский (Russian)
заклятый враг

Español (Spanish)
n. - enemigo jurado, archienemigo, el diablo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ärkefiende

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
主要敌人, 魔王, 大敌, 撒旦

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 主要敵人, 魔王, 大敵, 撒旦

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 대적, 사탄

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大敵, 人類の大敵, サタン, 最大の敵, 魔王

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عدو رئيسي, عدو الجنس البشري‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אויב ראשי, שטן‬

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Copyrights:

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Archenemy". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

archenemy

Etymology

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