Hell
/hɛl/noun
A place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering.
Did you know?The Old English word 'hell' is believed to be derived from a Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to cover or conceal', tying it to both burial and the underworld.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kel-
“to conceal, to cover, to hide”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haljō
“the underworld, the realm of the dead”
Old English
OE
hell
“the nether world, a place of the dead”
Middle English
ME
helle
“the abode of the damned”
Modern English
English
hell
“a place of torment in the afterlife”