hell

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Jberkel (talk | contribs) as of 23:17, 7 January 2020.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: he'll and Hell

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • enPR: hĕl, IPA(key): /hɛl/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Audio (UK):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

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 *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Low German Hell (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Norwegian helvete (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“the abode of the dead, death”). Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.

Proper noun

hell

  1. In various religions, the place where some or all spirits are believed to go after death
    • 1611, KJV, Proverbs, 23:14
      Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
  2. (in many religions, uncountable) The place where sinners suffer 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
Antonyms
  • (in many religions, uncountable): heaven
Translations

Noun

hell (countable and uncountable, plural hells)

  1. (countable, hyperbolic, figuratively) 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.
    callback hell; <table> hell; <div> 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.
    • 1986, “Disposable Heroes”, in Metallica (music), Master of Puppets:
      Why, am I dying? / Kill, have no fear / Lie, live off lying / Hell, hell is here
  2. (countable) A place for gambling.
    • (Can we date this quote by W. Black and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless
    • 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907, →OCLC; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, →OCLC, page 15:
      But there was also about him an indescribable air which no mechanic could have acquired in the practice of his handicraft however dishonestly exercised: [...] the air of moral nihilism common to keepers of gambling hells and disorderly houses; [...]
  3. (figuratively) An extremely hot place.
    You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.
  4. (sometimes considered vulgar) 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 shreds, or a printer discards 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
Translations

Interjection

hell

  1. (impolite, sometimes considered vulgar) Used to express discontent, unhappiness, or anger.
    Oh, hell! I got another parking ticket.
  2. (impolite, sometimes considered vulgar) Used to emphasize.
    Hell, yeah!
  3. (impolite, sometimes considered vulgar) Used to introduce an intensified statement following an understated one; nay; not only that, but.
    [Do it, or, r]est assured, there will be no more Middle Eastern crisis – hell, there will be no more Middle East!
Translations
See also

Adverb

hell (not comparable)

  1. (postpositional) Alternative form of the hell or like hell.
    • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 35:
      ‘I know whether a boy is telling me the truth or not.’
      ‘Thank you, sir.’
      Did he hell. They never bloody did.

Etymology 2

From German hellen (“to brighten, burnish”). Related to Dutch hel (“clear, bright”) and German hell (“clear, bright”).

Verb

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

  1. (rare, metal-working) To add luster to, burnish (silver or gold).
    • (Can we date this quote by G. Smith and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      To hell gold or gilt workː take two ounces of tartar, two ounces of sulfur.. and it will give it a fine luster.
References

Etymology 3

From Old Norse hella (“to pour”). Cognate with Icelandic hella (“to pour”), Norwegian helle (“to pour”), Swedish hälla (“to pour”). See also hield.

Verb

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

  1. (rare) To pour.
    • (Can we date this quote by Harvest and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      Gosh, the sickle went into me handː Down hell'd the blood.
References

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *skōla, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kol- (“stake”); compare Lithuanian kuõlas, Polish kóɫ, Ancient Greek σκύλος (skúlos).

Noun

hell m

  1. skewer
  2. spear
  3. icicle

Cornish

Noun

hell

  1. Aspirate mutation of kell.

Estonian

Etymology

Of Finnic origin. Cognate to Finnish hellä and Votic ellä.

Adjective

hell (genitive hella, partitive hella, comparative hellam, superlative kõige hellam)

  1. tender, gentle

Declension

Lua error in Module:et-nominals at line 58: Parameter 4 (final letter(s)) may not be empty.

German

FWOTD – 3 September 2014

Etymology

From Middle High German hel (“resounding, loud, shining, bright”), from Old High German hel (“resounding”), from Proto-Germanic *halliz (“resounding”), from Proto-Germanic *hellaną (“to resound, make a sound”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call, make noise”). Cognate with Dutch hel.

Pronunciation

Adjective

hell (comparative heller, superlative am hellsten)

  1. clear, bright, light
    • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Orgelpfeifen, in: Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun. Verlag, page 9:
      So dunkel und schauerlich die Gruft aussah, wenn man durch die blinden, bestaubten Scheibchen der kleinen Fenster hineinblickte, so hell und freundlich war oben die Kirche.
      Just as dark and eerie the crypt looked like, if one looked in it through the cloudy, dusted little panes of the small windows, as bright and friendly was the church above.

Declension

Template:de-decl-adj

Antonyms

Derived terms

Further reading

  • “hell” in Duden online

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German hel. Cognate with German helle, Dutch hel.

Pronunciation

Adjective

hell (masculine hellen, neuter hellt, comparative méi hell, superlative am hellsten)

  1. clear, bright
  2. light, pale

Declension

declension of hell
number and gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative hien ass hell si ass hell et ass hell si si(nn) hell
nominative /
accusative 		attributive and/or after determiner hellen hell hellt hell
independent without determiner helles heller
dative after any declined word hellen heller hellen hellen
as first declined word hellem hellem

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse heill.

Noun

hell n (definite singular hellet, indefinite plural hell, definite plural hella or hellene)

  1. luck

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

hell

  1. imperative of helle

Further reading

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Ultimately from Old Norse heill.

Noun

hell n (definite singular hellet, indefinite plural hell, definite plural hella)

  1. luck

Further reading

Old English

Etymology

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

Compare German hell (“light”).

Pronunciation

Noun

hell f

  1. hell

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: helle
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=hell&oldid=58312784"