The state, condition, or quality of being a devil; devilish nature or character.
From 'devil' plus '-hood' (from Old English had meaning 'person' or 'condition'). The '-hood' suffix appears in manhood, childhood, falsehood—denoting a state or abstract quality.
The '-hood' suffix is fascinating because it evolved from a noun meaning 'person' into a suffix for abstract states. Childhood doesn't mean 'the children' anymore—it means 'the state of being a child,' showing how suffixes can completely shift meaning.
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