hell

See also he'll, and Hell

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• (Christianity): Hell
• hel (17 century)
• helle

Etymology

From Middle English helle, from Old English hel, hell, helle (“nether world, abode of the dead, hell”), from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“nether world, concealed place”), from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to cover, conceal, save”). Cognate Dutch hel (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Swedish helvete (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“the abode of the dead, death”). Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.

Pronunciation

• enPR: hĕl, IPA: /hɛl/, X-SAMPA: /hEl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

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• Rhymes: -ɛl

Proper noun

hell

1. In various religions, the place where some or all spirits are believed to go after death
2. (Abrahamic religions, uncountable) The place where devils live and where sinners are tortured after death

   May you rot in hell!

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

     Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

     Hell is a strait and dark and foul-smelling prison, an abode of demons and lost souls, filled with fire and smoke.

Synonyms

• (euphemisms for Christian place for damned souls after death): Hades, heck, infernal region, inferno, netherworld, underworld

Antonyms

• (in Abrahamic religions, uncountable): heaven

Translations

where sinners go

• Albanian: ferr (sq)
• Arabic: جحيم (ar) (jaḥīm), النار (ar) (al-nār) f, جهنم (ar) (jahannam) f
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܓܗܢܐ (gehanā’) f

  Hebrew: גהנא (gehanā’) f

• Armenian: դժոխք (hy) (džoxk’)
• Asturian: infiernu (ast) m
• Azeri: cəhənnəm (az), ҹәһәннәм (az)
• Belarusian: ад (be) (ad) m, пекла (be) (pékla) m
• Bulgarian: ад (bg) (ad) m, пъкъл (bg) (pǎkǎl) m
• Catalan: infern (ca) m
• Chechen: жоьжахати
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地獄 (cmn), 地狱 (cmn) (dìyù)

• Czech: peklo (cs) n
• Danish: helvede (da) n
• Dutch: hel (nl)
• Esperanto: infero (eo)
• Estonian: põrgu (et)
• Faroese: helviti (fo) n
• Finnish: helvetti (fi)
• French: enfer (fr) m
• Friulian: infiêr m
• Galician: inferno (gl) m
• Georgian: ჯოჯოხეთი (ka) (ǰoǰoxet’i)
• German: Hölle (de) f
• Greek: Κόλαση (el) (Kólasi) f
• Hebrew: גֵּיהִנונּוֹם (he) (ge'henom) m and f
• Hindi: नरक (hi) (narak), जहन्नम (hi) (jahannam) m, यमलोक (hi)
• Hungarian: pokol (hu), dzsehennem (hu), csehenem (hu)
• Icelandic: helviti (is) n
• Indonesian: neraka (id)
• Interlingua: inferno (ia)
• Italian: inferno (it) m
• Japanese: 地獄 (ja) (じごく, jigoku), 魔界 (ja) (まかい, makai), 奈落 (ja) (naraka)
• Jèrriais: enfé m
• Kannada: ನರಕ (kn)
• Kazakh: жаһаннам (kk) (jahannam), тозақ (kk) (tozaq)
• Korean: 지옥 (ko) (jiok) (地獄 (ko))
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: جه‌هه‌نه‌م (ku)

• Latgalian: eļne
• Latin: infernum (la) n, Tartarus (la) m
• Latvian: elle (lv) f, pekle (lv) f

• Lithuanian: pragaras (lt) m
• Low German: Helle (nds) f
• Macedonian: пекол (mk) (pékol) m
• Malay: neraka (ms)
• Malayalam: നരകം (ml)
• Maltese: infern (mt) m
• Marathi: नर्क (mr) (narka)
• Navajo: chʼį́įdiitah
• Newari: नर्क
• Norwegian: helvete (no) n
• Occitan: infèrn (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: адъ (adŭ) m
• Old Norse: helviti n
• Old Provençal: Enfern
• Old Saxon: hel
• Persian: دوزخ (fa) (duzax), جهنم (fa) (jahannam)
• Polish: piekło (pl) n
• Portuguese: inferno (pt) m
• Romanian: iad (ro) n, gheenă (ro) f, infern (ro)
• Romansch: enfiern (rm)
• Russian: ад (ru) (ad) m, преисподняя (ru) (preispódnjaja) f, пекло (ru) (péklo) n, геенна огненная (ru) (gejénna ógnennaja) f
• Sanskrit: नरक (sa) (naraka)
• Sardinian: iferru (sc)
• Saterland Frisian: Hälle f
• Scottish Gaelic: Ifrinn (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пакао (sh) m, ад (sh) m, џехенем (sh) m

  Roman: pakao (sh) m, ad (sh) m, džehenem (sh) m

• Sicilian: nfernu (scn) m
• Slovak: peklo (sk) n
• Slovene: pekel (sl) m
• Spanish: infierno (es) m
• Swedish: helvete (sv) n
• Tagalog: impiyerno (tl)
• Tajik: дӯзах (tg) (dūzax), ҷаҳаннам (tg) (jahannam)
• Tamil: நரகம் (ta) (narakam)
• Telugu: నరకం (te) (narakaM)
• Thai: นรก (th) (narok)
• Turkish: cehennem (tr), tamu (tr)
• Ukrainian: ад (uk) (ad) m, пекло (uk) (péklo) n
• Urdu: جہنم (ur) (jahannam) m, نرک (ur) (narak)
• Vietnamese: địa ngục (vi) (地獄 (vi))
• Volapük: höl (vo)
• West Frisian: hel (fy) f

Noun

hell (plural hells)

1. (countable, hyperbolic) A place or situation of great suffering in life.

   My new boss is making my job a hell.

   I went through hell to get home today.

   • 1879, General William T. Sherman, commencement address at the Michigan Military Academy

     There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, it is all hell.

   • 1986, Metallica, “Disposable Heroes” (song), in Master of Puppets (album): 

     Why, am I dying? / Kill, have no fear / Lie, live off lying / Hell, hell is here

2. (countable) A place for gambling.
   • 1907, Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent

     ... the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; ...

3. An extremely hot place.

   You don't have a snowball's chance in hell.

4. Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun

   I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more.

   What the hell is wrong with you?

   He says he's going home early? Like hell he is.

Derived terms

Terms derived from hell (noun)

as hell forty minutes of hell hell and half of Georgia hella hellagood hell-fire hell for leather hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

hellish hell on earth hell on wheels hell's delight hellspawn hell week like hell living hell

no screaming hell the hell the hell out of the hell with it to hell with what the hell

Translations

place of suffering in life

• Armenian: դժոխք (hy) (džoxk’)
• Asturian: infiernu (ast) m
• Czech: peklo (cs) n
• Dutch: hel (nl)
• Esperanto: infero (eo)
• Finnish: helvetti (fi)
• French: enfer (fr) m
• German: Hölle (de) f
• Greek: κόλαση (el) (kólasi) f
• Hungarian: pokol (hu)
• Indonesian: neraka (id)
• Interlingua: inferno (ia)
• Italian: inferno (it) m
• Japanese: 地獄 (ja) (じごく, jigoku)
• Latvian: elle (lv) f
• Lithuanian: pragaras (lt) m
• Norwegian: helvete (no) n

• Persian: جهنم (fa) (jahannam)
• Polish: piekło (pl) n
• Portuguese: inferno (pt) m
• Russian: ад (ru) (ad) m
• Saterland Frisian: Hälle f
• Scottish Gaelic: Ifrinn (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пакао (sh) m, ад (sh) m

  Roman: pakao (sh) m, ad (sh) m

• Sicilian: nfernu (scn) m
• Slovak: peklo (sk) n
• Spanish: infierno (es) m
• Swedish: helvete (sv) n
• Telugu: నరకం (te) (narakaM)
• Volapük: höl (vo)
• West Frisian: Hel (fy) f

Interjection

hell

1. (not polite) Used to express negative discontent.

   Oh, hell! I got another parking ticket.

2. (not polite) Used to emphasize

   Hell, yeah!

See also

• damn
• heck

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Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skōla, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kol- ‘stake’ (compare Lithuanian kuõlas, Polish kóɫ, Ancient Greek skýlos).

Noun

hell m

1. skewer
2. spear
3. icicle

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Estonian

Adjective

hell

1. tender

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hɛl/

• audio (Germany)

  (file)

• audio (Austria)

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Adjective

hell (comparative heller, superlative am hellsten)

1. clear, bright, light

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Luxembourgish

Adjective

hell

1. clear, bright
2. light, pale

Declension

declension of hell

	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
accusative	hellen	hell	hellt	hell
nominative	hellen	hell	hellt	hell
dative	hellen	heller	hellen	hellen

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Norwegian

Noun

hell n

1. luck

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Old English

Etymology

Proto-Germanic *haljō

Compare to halo, an effect of light, and hell, German for "light".

Noun

hell f

1. hell