A female devil or a woman considered devilish, wicked, or malevolent in nature.
From 'devil' plus the feminine suffix '-ess' (from Old French -esse, ultimately from Latin -issa). The '-ess' suffix was used to mark female versions of male roles: actress, duchess, lioness, waitress.
The '-ess' suffix shows how languages often treat gender as a marked category—'devil' is the default, and 'deviless' has to be specifically marked as female. Modern English has mostly dropped this practice, reflecting changing attitudes about gender.
Feminine suffix '-ess' historically marked women as secondary or exceptional variants of male roles. Applied to supernatural beings without functional distinction, reflecting linguistic patterns that gender even non-human entities unnecessarily.
Use 'devil' or 'demon' regardless of gender. If character gender matters contextually, specify separately rather than through gendered suffixes.
["devil","demon","infernal being"]
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