hell
/hɛl/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 5.10 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be.
noun
A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.
Countable; Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "May you rot in hell!"
- "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
- "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."
- "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd."
- "Hell is a strait and dark and foul-smelling prison, an abode of demons and lost souls, filled with fire and smoke."
- "'Cause this is a wasteland, my only retreat / With heaven above you, there's hell over me"
Etymology
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.
Origin
- Source language: Middle English
- First known use: First attested in c. 725