hell

See also: he'll, Hell, and héll

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

    From Middle English hel, hell, helle, hælle, from Old English hel, hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“hell, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). First attested in c. 725.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Yola helle (“hell”), Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Alemannic German Hell (“hell”), Cimbrian hélla (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Limburgish hel, Héll, Höll (“hell”), Luxembourgish Häll (“hell”), Vilamovian heł, hełł (“hell”), Danish helvede (“hell”), ihjel (“to death”), Faroese helviti (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“death, hell”), helvíti (“hell”), Norwegian Nynorsk hel (“death, underworld”), helvete (“hell”), Swedish helvete (“hell”), ihjäl (“to death”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja, “hell”), Estonian koll (“bugbear”), Finnish koljo (“giant; evil spirit; devil”); also Cornish keles (“to conceal, hide”), Irish ceil (“to conceal, hide; to cover up”), Welsh celu (“to conceal, hide”), Faliscan 𐌂𐌄𐌋𐌀 (cela, “tomb”), Latin cella (“hut, storeroom; barn, granary”), Greek κολεός (koleós, “vagina; sheath; scabbard; coleus”), Lithuanian šalmas (“helmet”), Belarusian шало́м (šalóm, “helmet”), Bulgarian and Macedonian шлем (šlem, “helmet”), Old Polish szłom (“helmet”), Russian шело́м (šelóm), шлем (šlem, “helmet”), Serbo-Croatian шле̏м, шље̏м, šlȅm, šljȅm (“helmet”), Ukrainian шолом (šolom, “helmet”), Sanskrit शर्मन् (śarman, “safety, shelter; house; bliss, happiness, joy”).

    Also related to the Hel of Germanic mythology. See also hele.

    Proper noun

    hell

    1. (in many religions, often capitalized) A place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be.
      Antonym: heaven
      May you rot in hell!
    2. (in many religions, often capitalized, inexact) Synonym of underworld, an underground land of the dead without eternal punishment or with only some regions of punishment.
    Usage notes

    In English, Hell or hell is typically conflated with present Christian and Islamic beliefs about a fiery underworld of eternal punishment inflicted by demons on the wicked, which may or may not include Limbo, a realm for the virtuous dead of other faiths. Similar beliefs in other traditions are often—but not univerally—distinguished by using specific alternative names (e.g. Diyu for the traditional Chinese underworld of punishments for the wicked) or by distinguishing the specific form of hell intended, as with calling Naraka the Buddhist Hell or Hells. Often within these traditions and occasionally within Christian and Islamic sects, the land of punishment is only a temporary realm of purification of the spirit, similar to Purgatory in Catholicism.

    Informally, any underground afterworld may be called Hell but scholarly treatment usually distinguishes such neutral and general beliefs as the Hebrew Sheol, the Greco-Roman Hades, and Sumerian Kur with more neutral terms, such as underworld, afterlife, or land of the dead.

    Synonyms
    Descendants
    • → Korean: 헬 (hel)
    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
      • 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
      • 2024 May 8, Damian Carrington, “‘Hopeless and broken’: why the world’s top climate scientists are in despair. World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target”, in The Guardian, UK:
        So how do the scientists cope with their work being ignored for decades, and living in a world their findings indicate is on a “highway to hell”?.
    2. (countable) A place for gambling.
      • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
        Here’s five-and-twenty for you. Don’t be losing it at the hells now.
      • 1877, William Black, Green Pastures and Piccadilly. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:
        a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless
      • 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
        There's light behind here—a hole through the wall. I believe the place is a regular swindling hell.
      • 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 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.
      • when hell freezes over
        (≃ This will never happen.)
    4. (mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.
      • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 321:
        She's got her arms down to her side, defiant. But just for the hell of it, she leans into him, wraps her arms around his neck, puts her head on his shoulder, and hangs on tight.
      I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.
      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.
    6. In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.
    7. (colloquial, usually with on) Something extremely painful or harmful (to)
      That steep staircase is hell on my knees.
    Derived terms
    Translations
    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

    Interjection

    hell (colloquial, sometimes vulgar)

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

    Adverb

    hell (not comparable)

    1. (postpositional) Alternative form of the hell or like hell.
      • 1990, Mama's Family (television sitcom), "Look Who's Breathing" (season 6, episode 18)
        - Oh, aren't they sweet?
        - Sweet, hell. They look like Tweedledum and Tweedledumber.
      • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section II, page 24:
        ‘[…] I know whether a boy is telling me the truth or not.’
        ‘Thank you, sir.’
        Did he hell. They never bloody did.
    2. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, sometimes vulgar) Very; used to emphasize strongly.
      Synonym: hella
      That was hell good!
      They're hell sexy.

    Verb

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

    1. To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell. [from 17th c.]
    2. To hurry, rush. [from 19th c.]
      • 1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury:
        I had already lost thirteen points, all because she had to come helling in there at twelve, worrying me about that letter.
    3. (intransitive) To move quickly and loudly; to raise hell as part of motion.
      He was helling down the road with his radio blaring.

    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; to burnish (silver or gold).
      • 1770, Godfrey Smith, The Laboratory: Or, School of Arts:
        To hell gold or gilt workː take two ounces of tartar, two ounces of sulfur.. and it will give it a fine luster.

    Etymology 3

    From Middle English hellen, from Old Norse hella (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *halþijaną (“to incline, tip; to pour out, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to lean, incline”). Cognate with Icelandic hella (“to pour”), Norwegian helle (“to pour”), Swedish hälla (“to pour”). See also English hield.

    Verb

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

    1. (rare) To pour.
      • 18th century, Josiah Relph, The Harvest; or Bashful Shepherd
        Gosh, the sickle went into me handː Down hell'd the bluid.

    Albanian

    Etymology

    From Proto-Albanian *höła-, from Pre-Proto-Albanian *kʰōla-, older *skōla-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kṓl(h₃)-o- (“point”).[1] Compare Lithuanian kuõlas, Polish kół, Ancient Greek σκύλος (skúlos). Related by root are halë (“fishbone”) and helm (“poison”).

    Noun

    hell m (plural heje, definite helli, definite plural hejtë)

    1. skewer
      Synonym: shish
    2. spear
      Synonyms: shtizë, heshtë, ushtë
    3. icicle
      Synonyms: ehull, cingër, cingór, cërril, çaf, kitë, cepik

    Derived terms

    Adverb

    hell

    1. standing straight without moving

    References

    1. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl et al. (2021), “hell”, in DPEWA. Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen [DPEWA. Digital Philological-Etymological Dictionary of Old Albanian]

    Cornish

    Noun

    hell

    1. aspirate mutation of kell

    Estonian

    Etymology

    From Proto-Finnic *hellä. Cognate to Finnish hellä and Votic ellä (Mati).

    Adjective

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

    1. tender, gentle

    Declension

    Declension of hell (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation)
    singular plural
    nominative hell hellad
    accusative nom.
    gen. hella
    genitive hellade
    partitive hella helli
    hellasid
    illative hella
    hellasse     		helladesse
    hellisse
    inessive hellas hellades
    hellis
    elative hellast helladest
    hellist
    allative hellale helladele
    hellile
    adessive hellal helladel
    hellil
    ablative hellalt helladelt
    hellilt
    translative hellaks helladeks
    helliks
    terminative hellani helladeni
    essive hellana helladena
    abessive hellata helladeta
    comitative hellaga helladega

    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 (strong nominative masculine singular heller, comparative heller, superlative am hellsten)

    1. clear, bright, light
      Antonym: dunkel
      • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, “Die Orgelpfeifen”, in Zwei Erzählungen, Leipzig: 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.
    2. (figurative) quick, clever
      ein heller Verstand ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
      ein heller Kopf ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    3. (figurative, intensifier) great
      helle Freude ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
      • 1937, Ödön von Horváth, “Die reichen Plebejer”, in Jugend ohne Gott [Youth Without God / The Age of the Fish]:
        » […] Mein Sohn Otto teilte mir gestern nachmittag in heller Empörung mit, daß Sie, Herr Lehrer, eine schier unerhörte Bemerkung fallen gelassen hätten –«
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

    Declension

    Positive forms of hell
    number & gender singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter
    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
    number & gender singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter
    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
    number & gender singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter
    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

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    • “hell”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎[1] (in German)
    • “hell” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
    • “hell” in Duden online

    Luxembourgish

    Etymology

    From Old High German hel, related to the verb hellan, from Proto-Germanic *hellaną (“to resound”). Cognate with German helle, Dutch hel.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /hæl/
    • Rhymes: -æl
    • Homophone: Häll

    Adjective

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

    1. clear, bright
    2. light, pale

    Declension

    Declension of hell
    singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter
    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

    Middle English

    Proper noun

    hell

    1. alternative form of helle

    Noun

    hell

    1. alternative form of helle

    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 1

    Ultimately from Old Norse heill.

    Noun

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

    1. luck

    Etymology 2

    From Old Norse heldr.

    Adverb

    hell

    1. (nonstandard or dialectal) alternative form of heller (“rather, either; neither”)
      • 1951, Olav H. Hauge, Din veg:
        Og ikkje vardar du vegen, du hell.
        Og vinden stryk ut ditt far i aude fjell.
        And you don't mark out the road either.
        And the wind wipes away your trail amid empty mountains.

    Further reading

    • “hell” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
    • “heller”, in Norsk Ordbok: Ordbok over det Norske Folkemålet og det Nynorske Skriftmålet (in Norwegian Nynorsk), Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget, 1950–2016, →ISBN.
    • “helder” in Ivar Aasen (1873) Norsk Ordbog med dansk Forklaring

    Old English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

      From Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover, hide, conceal”).

      Compare German Hölle (“hell”).

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /xell/, [heɫ]
      • Rhymes: -ell

      Noun

      hell f

      1. hell
        • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 86:
          Dēaþes ġeōmerunga mē beēodon, and helle sārnyssa mē beēodon, and iċ on mīnre ġedrefednysse Drihten clypode, and hē of his hālgan temple mīne stemne ġehyrde.
          The moaning of death surrounded me, and the pains of hell surrounded me, and in my distress I called out to the Lord, and from his holy temple he heard my voice.
          [Quoting Circumdederunt me gemitus.]

      Declension

      Strong ō-stem:

      singular plural
      nominative hell hella, helle
      accusative helle hella, helle
      genitive helle hella
      dative helle hellum

      Derived terms

      Descendants

      Swedish

      Etymology

      From Old Swedish heel, from Old Norse heill (“good omen, luck”, literally “whole, healthy”). Doublet of hel.

      Interjection

      hell

      1. (archaic) hail (exclamation or greeting)

      Derived terms

      References

      Welsh

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /hɛɬ/

      Etymology 1

      Adjective

      hell (not mutable)

      1. (neologism, literary) feminine singular of hyll
      Usage notes

      This is a rare term formed by analogy with cref, gwen etc. as feminine forms of cryf (“strong”), gwyn (“white”) etc., rather than inherited.

      Quotations
      • 1918, Ellis Humphrey Evans (Hedd Wyn), translated by Gillian Clarke, Rhyfel [War]‎[2]:
        […] O'i ôl mae dyn, yn deyrn a gwreng, / Yn codi ei awdurdod hell.
        […] Instead, man, king or peasantry, / Raises his gross authority.

      Etymology 2

      Noun

      hell (not mutable)

      1. h-prothesized form of ell

      Further reading

      • D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “hell”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
      • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “hell”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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