netherworld
/nˈɛðɚwˌɝld/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The place to which one's spirit descends upon death, conceived as below the surface of the earth.
noun
The locale of the spirit world or afterlife, whether deemed to be situated below the world of the living or not.
noun
Specifically, a location of punishment in the afterlife; a hell.
noun
A hidden, shadowy, or sinister subculture, such as that of organized crime.
Example Sentences
- "In some religions, one's soul departs to a netherworld, instead of the heavens."
- "As Inanna prepares to descend she fastens the seven divine laws to her side, and as she walks toward the netherworld she speaks to her vizier, Ninshubur."
- "While I was astrally projecting, I felt my soul pass through many insubstantial netherworlds."
- "The missionary was motivated by a sincere desire to rescue souls from eternal torment in the netherworld."
- "Richard had been initiated into the netherworld of dog racing by his father, and knew all the popular greyhound performance-enhancing drugs."
- "Flicks is a large bar which has been in some conflict since it opened […] The nature of that conflict has been characterized as gay-straight, by the bar managers; as crazies-sane, by some residents; as predators-prey, by some bar patrons; and as "netherworld"-respectable, by some bureaucrats."
Etymology
Etymology tree English nether- Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós Proto-Germanic *weraz Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *h₂életi Proto-Germanic *alaną Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Germanic *-þiz Proto-Germanic *aldiz Proto-Germanic *weraldiz Proto-West Germanic *weraldi Old English weorold Middle English world English world English netherworld From nether- (“beneath, lower”) + world.