hell

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Pronunciation 1.4 Proper noun 1.4.1 Synonyms 1.4.2 Antonyms 1.4.3 Translations 1.5 Noun 1.5.1 Derived terms 1.5.2 Translations 1.6 Interjection 1.7 See also 2 Albanian 2.1 Noun 3 Estonian 3.1 Adjective 4 German 4.1 Pronunciation 4.2 Adjective 5 Old English 5.1 Etymology 5.2 Noun

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Alternative spellings

• (Christianity): Hell

[edit] Etymology

Old English hel, helle (“‘nether world, abode of the dead’”) < Proto-Germanic *khaljo (“‘nether world, concealed place’”) < Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“‘to cover, conceal, save’”). Cognate with the "Hel" of Germanic mythology.

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: hel, IPA: /hɛl/, SAMPA: /hEl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɛl

[edit] Proper noun

Singular hell

Plural -

hell

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

[edit] Synonyms

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

[edit] Antonyms

• (Christianity, uncountable): heaven

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

hell (plural hells)

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

   My new boss is making my job a hell.

   • 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.

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.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] 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!

[edit] See also

• damn
• heck

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[edit] Albanian

[edit] Noun

hell m.

1. skewer
2. icicle

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[edit] Estonian

[edit] Adjective

hell

1. tender

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[edit] German

[edit] Pronunciation

•  audio (Austria)^{help, file}

[edit] Adjective

hell (comparative heller, superlative hellest)

1. clear, bright, light

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[edit] Old English

[edit] Etymology

Proto-Germanic *haljo

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

[edit] Noun

hell f.

1. hell