hell

See also: he'll and Hell

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• (Christianity): Hell
• hel (17th 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^(key): /hɛl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Proper noun

hell

1. In various religions, the place where some or all spirits are believed to go after death

   Do Muslims believe that all non-Muslims go to hell?

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
• (Mormonism): Spirit Prison

Antonyms

• (in Abrahamic religions, uncountable): heaven

Translations

where sinners go

• Afrikaans: hel
• Albanian: ferr
• Arabic: جحيم m (jaḥīm), النار f (al-nār), جهنم f (jahánnam)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܓܗܢܐ f (gehanā’)

  Hebrew: גהנא f (gehanā’)

• Armenian: դժոխք (džoxkʿ)
• Asturian: infiernu m
• Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬊𐬲𐬀𐬢𐬵 (daožaŋh), 𐬛𐬀𐬊𐬲𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀 (daožauua)
• Azeri: cəhənnəm, ҹәһәннәм
• Baluchi: دوزه (dōzē)
• Bashkir: тамуҡ (tamuq), йәһәннәм (yähännäm)
• Belarusian: ад m (ad), пекла n (pjékla)
• Bengali: জাহান্নাম (jahannam)
• Bulgarian: ад (bg) m (ad), пъкъл (bg) m (pǎ̀kǎl)
• Burmese: နရက် (my) (na̱re')
• Catalan: infern m
• Chechen: жоьжахати (žöžaχati)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 地獄 (zh), 地狱 (zh) (dìyù)

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

  Kurmanji: dûjeh (ku)

  Sorani: جه‌هه‌نه‌م (ku), دۆزەخ (dozex)

• Kyrgyz: тозок (tozok)
• Lao: ນະລົກ (nālōk)
• Latgalian: eļne
• Latin: infernum n, Tartarus (la) m

• Latvian: elle (lv) f, pekle f
• Lithuanian: pragaras m
• Low German: Helle f
• Luxembourgish: Häll f
• Macedonian: пекол m (pékol)
• Malay: neraka
• Malayalam: നരകം (ml) (narakaṁ)
• Maltese: infern m
• Marathi: नर्क (narka)
• Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭥𐭱𐭧𐭥𐭩 (dušox)
• Mongolian: там (tam)
• Navajo: chʼį́įdiitah
• Newari: नर्क
• Norwegian: helvete n
• Occitan: infèrn (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: адъ m (adŭ)
• Old Norse: helviti n
• Old Provençal: Enfern
• Old Saxon: hel
• Pashto: دوغښ (doǧaẍ)
• 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
• Russian: ад (ru) m (ad), преисподняя (ru) f (preispódnjaja), пекло (ru) n (péklo), геенна огненная f (gejénna ógnennaja)
• Sanskrit: नरक (naraka)
• Sardinian: iferru
• Saterland Frisian: Hälle f
• Scottish Gaelic: Ifrinn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пакао m, ад m, џехенем m

  Roman: pakao m, ad m, džehenem m

• Sicilian: nfernu (scn) m
• Slovak: peklo n
• Slovene: pekel (sl) m
• Spanish: infierno (es) m
• Swedish: helvete (sv) n
• Tagalog: impiyerno
• Tajik: дӯзах (düzax), ҷаҳаннам (jahannam)
• Tamil: நரகம் (ta) (narakam)
• Tatar: җәһәннәм (tt) (cähännäm)
• Telugu: నరకం (te) (narakaṁ)
• Thai: นรก (th) (narok)
• Turkish: cehennem (tr), tamu (tr)
• Turkmen: dowzah
• Ukrainian: ад (uk) m (ad), пекло n (péklo)
• Urdu: جہنم m (jahannam), نرک (narak), دوزخ (dozax)
• Uzbek: doʻzax
• Vietnamese: địa ngục (vi) (地獄)
• Volapük: höl (vo)
• Welsh: uffern f
• West Frisian: hel 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.
   • W. Black

     a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless

   • 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.

5. (obsolete) A place into which a tailor throws his shreds, or a printer his broken type.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hudibras to this entry?)

6. In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.

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 to pay 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 (džoxkʿ)
• Asturian: infiernu m
• Bashkir: тамуҡ (tamuq), йәһәннәм (yähännäm)
• Czech: peklo (cs) n
• Dutch: hel (nl)
• Esperanto: infero
• Finnish: helvetti (fi)
• French: enfer (fr) m
• German: Hölle (de) f
• Greek: κόλαση (el) f (kólasi)
• Hungarian: pokol (hu)
• Indonesian: neraka (id)
• Interlingua: inferno
• Italian: inferno (it) m
• Japanese: 地獄 (ja) (じごく, jigoku)
• Latvian: elle (lv) f
• Lithuanian: pragaras m

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

  Cyrillic: пакао m, ад m

  Roman: pakao m, ad m

• Sicilian: nfernu (scn) m
• Slovak: peklo n
• Spanish: infierno (es) m
• Swedish: helvete (sv) n
• Telugu: నరకం (te) (narakaM)
• Volapük: höl (vo)
• West Frisian: Hel 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^(key): /hɛl/

• audio (Germany)

  (file)

• audio (Austria)

  (file)

Adjective

hell (comparative heller, superlative am hellsten)

1. clear, bright, light

Declension

Positive forms of hell

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist hell	sie ist hell	es ist hell	sie sind hell
strong declension (without article)	nominative	heller	helle	helles	helle
	genitive	hellen	heller	hellen	heller
	dative	hellem	heller	hellem	hellen
	accusative	hellen	helle	helles	helle
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der helle	die helle	das helle	die hellen
	genitive	des hellen	der hellen	des hellen	der hellen
	dative	dem hellen	der hellen	dem hellen	den hellen
	accusative	den hellen	die helle	das helle	die hellen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein heller	eine helle	ein helles	(keine) hellen
	genitive	eines hellen	einer hellen	eines hellen	(keiner) hellen
	dative	einem hellen	einer hellen	einem hellen	(keinen) hellen
	accusative	einen hellen	eine helle	ein helles	(keine) hellen

Comparative forms of hell

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist heller	sie ist heller	es ist heller	sie sind heller
strong declension (without article)	nominative	hellerer	hellere	helleres	hellere
	genitive	helleren	hellerer	helleren	hellerer
	dative	hellerem	hellerer	hellerem	helleren
	accusative	helleren	hellere	helleres	hellere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der hellere	die hellere	das hellere	die helleren
	genitive	des helleren	der helleren	des helleren	der helleren
	dative	dem helleren	der helleren	dem helleren	den helleren
	accusative	den helleren	die hellere	das hellere	die helleren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein hellerer	eine hellere	ein helleres	(keine) helleren
	genitive	eines helleren	einer helleren	eines helleren	(keiner) helleren
	dative	einem helleren	einer helleren	einem helleren	(keinen) helleren
	accusative	einen helleren	eine hellere	ein helleres	(keine) helleren

Superlative forms of hell

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist am hellsten	sie ist am hellsten	es ist am hellsten	sie sind am hellsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	hellster	hellste	hellstes	hellste
	genitive	hellsten	hellster	hellsten	hellster
	dative	hellstem	hellster	hellstem	hellsten
	accusative	hellsten	hellste	hellstes	hellste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der hellste	die hellste	das hellste	die hellsten
	genitive	des hellsten	der hellsten	des hellsten	der hellsten
	dative	dem hellsten	der hellsten	dem hellsten	den hellsten
	accusative	den hellsten	die hellste	das hellste	die hellsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein hellster	eine hellste	ein hellstes	(keine) hellsten
	genitive	eines hellsten	einer hellsten	eines hellsten	(keiner) hellsten
	dative	einem hellsten	einer hellsten	einem hellsten	(keinen) hellsten
	accusative	einen hellsten	eine hellste	ein hellstes	(keine) hellsten

Antonyms

• dunkel

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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

From Proto-Germanic *haljō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide, conceal”). Cognate with Old Frisian helle, hille, Old Saxon hel, hellia, Old Dutch hella, Old High German hella, hellia, Old Norse hel, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja).

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

Noun

hell f

1. hell

Derived terms

• hellewīte

Descendants

• Middle English: helle
  • English: hell
  • Scots: hel