Talk:enemy

"Nemesis" is not a synonym, although it is widely believed to be one. "Nemesis" means "fate". -- Paul G 13:51, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)


 * Nemesis means several things, archenemy being one of them (though it is indeed too strong for enemy). The common senses of the word have drifted a long way from its Greek root νέμεσις (nemesis) "righteous anger or retribution."  —Muke Tever 16:04, 22 Apr 2004 (UTC)

RFM discussion: November 2019
Currently the second and third senses are: These should be merged, as it doesn't seem like there are differences with any lexical significance that consistently separate them.
 * 1) A hostile force or nation; a fighting member of such a force or nation.
 * rally together against a common enemy.
 * 1) An alliance of such forces.

In general, this is a hard term to pin down. Looking at the war in Syria, you've had armed forces from nations such as Syria, Turkey, the United States and Russia, as well as ISIS, various Kurdish organizations, and foreign volunteers from all over the world. Some were parts of alliances, some were just there on their own behalf. All of these could be considered enemies of one or more of these others at some point, even those that were there acting to support or oppose parties in the conflict without actually taking up arms. How well do they fit the definitions as they now stand? Chuck Entz (talk) 20:45, 1 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I think sense 3 can be removed without issue. Ultimateria (talk) 19:09, 6 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I've removed it. - -sche (discuss) 08:26, 28 November 2019 (UTC)

RFD discussion: January–March 2021
The adjective doesn't exist as far as I'm aware, it's often used attributively. We should be able to move these to the noun without going through RFD. Anyway, we need to keep the translations. DonnanZ (talk) 18:54, 16 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Translations moved to the noun. DonnanZ (talk) 19:21, 16 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Delete, redundant to the attributive noun gloss. Though the French/Latin etymon is an adjective, I have never thought of the English as adjective. Fay Freak (talk) 22:38, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep, compare the contrasting phrases "friendly vessel" and "enemy vessel". While "enemy" in this case could be considered an attributive noun, the phrase "friend vessel" is not one commonly heard.  That suggests that "enemy" acts in the same way as "friendly", and therefore that "enemy" as an adjective may exist separately from its usage as a noun.  --Psiphiorg (talk) 06:02, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete. Just because "friendly" is an adjective doesn't mean "enemy" is one in parallel constructions. —Mahāgaja · talk 09:57, 31 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete. Not an adjective. Mihia (talk) 14:57, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Delete. Ultimateria (talk) 20:13, 20 February 2021 (UTC)
 * RFD-deleted. —Μετάknowledge discuss/deeds 08:15, 7 March 2021 (UTC)