infernal

English

Etymology

From Middle French infernal, from Medieval Latin infernalis, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin īnfernus, from īnferum (“netherworld, underworld, hell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfɜː(ɹ)nəl/
• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈfəɹnəl/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

infernal (comparative more infernal, superlative most infernal)

1. Of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish.
2. (by extension) Of or relating to a fire or inferno.
3. Stygian, gloomy.
4. Diabolical or fiendish.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 34–36:

     Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile

     Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd

     The Mother of Mankind

   • (Can we date this quote by Addison and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     the instruments or abettors in such infernal dealings

5. (as an expletive, not vulgar) Very annoying; damned.
   • 1905, Bram Stoker, The Man

     As I had to put up with the patronage and the lecturings, and the eyeglass of that infernal old woman, […]

Antonyms

• (of or relating to hell): heavenly

Related terms

• infernally
• infernal machine
• inferno

Translations

Of or relating to hell, or the world of the dead; hellish

• Bulgarian: адски (bg) (adski), пъклен (bg) (pǎklen)
• Czech: pekelný (cs)
• Dutch: hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• Finnish: helvetillinen (fi)
• French: infernal (fr)

  Old French: infernal

• Greek:

  Ancient: χθόνιος (khthónios)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: bedebah (id)
• Italian: infernale (it)
• Latin: infernus
• Norman: înfèrna
• Polish: piekielny (pl)

by extension: of or relating to a great fire or inferno

• Dutch: infernaal (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

stygian, gloomy

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

diabolical or fiendish

• Bulgarian: дяволски (bg) (djavolski)
• Dutch: duivels (nl), hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• Finnish: pirullinen (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: bedebah (id)
• Polish: diabelski (pl)

UK, as an expletive: very annoying; damned

• Bulgarian: проклет (bg) (proklet)
• Dutch: hels (nl), infernaal (nl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: bedebah (id)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} höllisch (de), ^{(please verify)} Höllen-, ^{(please verify)} infernalisch (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} infernal (es)

Noun

infernal (plural infernals)

1. (obsolete) An inhabitant of the infernal regions.

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

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “infernal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin infernālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.fɛʁ.nal/

Adjective

infernal (feminine infernale, masculine plural infernaux, feminine plural infernales)

1. infernal (relating to hell)
2. (figuratively) infernal, hellish, awful, terrible

Related terms

• enfer

Further reading

• “infernal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Old French

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin infernālis

Adjective

infernal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular infernale)

1. infernal (relating to hell)

Declension

Declension of infernal

Number	Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Singular	Subject	infernals, infernaus, infernax	infernale	infernal
	Oblique	infernal			infernale	infernal
Plural	Subject	infernal	infernales		infernal
	Oblique	infernals, infernaus, infernax			infernales	infernal

Descendants

• English: infernal
• French: infernal
• Norman: înfèrna

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Portuguese

Adjective

1. (Christianity) hellish; infernal (from or relating to hell)
2. diabolical; evil; infernal

Synonyms

• (evil): mau, diabólico, maldoso

Related terms

• inferno

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin infernalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /infeɾˈnal/ [ĩɱ.feɾˈnal]

Adjective

infernal m or f (masculine and feminine plural infernales)

1. infernal (of or relating to hell)
2. infernal (diabolical, fiendish)
3. infernal (very annoying, damned)

Related terms

• infierno

Further reading

• Template:R:DRAE 2001