Hell in Different Languages
Discover 'Hell' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Hell
Afrikaans hel | ||
Albanian dreqin | ||
Amharic ገሃነም | ||
Arabic الجحيم | ||
Armenian դժոխք | ||
Assamese নৰক | ||
Aymara imphirnu | ||
Azerbaijani cəhənnəm | ||
Bambara jahanama | ||
Basque arraio | ||
Belarusian чорт вазьмі | ||
Bengali নরক | ||
Bhojpuri नरक | ||
Bosnian dovraga | ||
Bulgarian по дяволите | ||
Catalan infern | ||
Cebuano impyerno | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 地狱 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 地獄 | ||
Corsican infernu | ||
Croatian pakao | ||
Czech peklo | ||
Danish helvede | ||
Dhivehi ނަރަކަ | ||
Dogri नर्क | ||
Dutch hel | ||
English hell | ||
Esperanto diable | ||
Estonian kurat | ||
Ewe dzomavᴐ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) impiyerno | ||
Finnish helvetti | ||
French enfer | ||
Frisian hel | ||
Galician carallo | ||
Georgian ჯანდაბა | ||
German hölle | ||
Greek κόλαση | ||
Guarani añaretã | ||
Gujarati નરક | ||
Haitian Creole lanfè | ||
Hausa jahannama | ||
Hawaiian kehena | ||
Hebrew גֵיהִנוֹם | ||
Hindi नरक | ||
Hmong ntuj raug txim | ||
Hungarian pokol | ||
Icelandic helvíti | ||
Igbo oku mmuo | ||
Ilocano infierno | ||
Indonesian neraka | ||
Irish ifreann | ||
Italian inferno | ||
Japanese 地獄 | ||
Javanese neraka | ||
Kannada ನರಕ | ||
Kazakh тозақ | ||
Khmer នរក | ||
Kinyarwanda ikuzimu | ||
Konkani नरक | ||
Korean 지옥 | ||
Krio ɛl | ||
Kurdish cehnem | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دۆزەخ | ||
Kyrgyz тозок | ||
Lao ນະຮົກ | ||
Latin infernum | ||
Latvian ellē | ||
Lingala lifelo | ||
Lithuanian pragaras | ||
Luganda geyeena | ||
Luxembourgish hell | ||
Macedonian пекол | ||
Maithili नर्क | ||
Malagasy helo | ||
Malay neraka | ||
Malayalam നരകം | ||
Maltese infern | ||
Maori reinga | ||
Marathi नरक | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯣꯔꯣꯛ | ||
Mizo hremhmun | ||
Mongolian там | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ငရဲ | ||
Nepali नरक | ||
Norwegian helvete | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) gehena | ||
Odia (Oriya) ନର୍କ | ||
Oromo si'ool | ||
Pashto دوزخ | ||
Persian جهنم | ||
Polish piekło | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) inferno | ||
Punjabi ਨਰਕ | ||
Quechua uku pacha | ||
Romanian iad | ||
Russian ад | ||
Samoan seoli | ||
Sanskrit नरकः | ||
Scots Gaelic ifrinn | ||
Sepedi hele | ||
Serbian доврага | ||
Sesotho lihele | ||
Shona gehena | ||
Sindhi جهنم | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) නිරය | ||
Slovak peklo | ||
Slovenian hudiča | ||
Somali cadaab | ||
Spanish infierno | ||
Sundanese naraka | ||
Swahili kuzimu | ||
Swedish helvete | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) impyerno | ||
Tajik ҷаҳаннам | ||
Tamil நரகம் | ||
Tatar тәмуг | ||
Telugu నరకం | ||
Thai นรก | ||
Tigrinya ገሃነም | ||
Tsonga tihele | ||
Turkish cehennem | ||
Turkmen dowzah | ||
Twi (Akan) bonsam gyam | ||
Ukrainian пекло | ||
Urdu جہنم | ||
Uyghur دوزاخ | ||
Uzbek jahannam | ||
Vietnamese địa ngục | ||
Welsh uffern | ||
Xhosa isihogo | ||
Yiddish גענעם | ||
Yoruba apaadi | ||
Zulu isihogo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, the word "hel" can also refer to a specific place in the underworld or to a state of great suffering or misery. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "dreqin" ('hell') is thought to derive from the Illyrian word "drek" meaning 'serpent', indicating a potential link between the underworld and the serpent or dragon. |
| Amharic | In Amharic, "ገሃነም" (hell) is derived from the Arabic "jahannam", a term of uncertain origin, possibly based on a root meaning "to hide" or a location in the desert traditionally associated with fire and judgment. |
| Arabic | It is also used to refer to the place of suffering and torment in the afterlife. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "դժոխք" (hell) originates from the Old Armenian word "dokh", meaning "pain", and is also used to refer to the underworld or a place of torment. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "cəhənnəm" is derived from the Arabic word "jahannam", which originally meant a deep pit or abyss. |
| Basque | The Basque word "arraio" may derive from the Latin "haerere" (to stick, to cleave), referring to the concept of eternal punishment in hell. |
| Belarusian | In folk etymology, the phrase may be related to the word «чо́рны» («black») |
| Bengali | Derived from Sanskrit, "naraka" also means "subterranean passage" through which water flows or "the bottom of the sea". |
| Bosnian | The word 'dovraga' also means 'hellish' and 'torment' in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | "По дяволите" literally means "to the devils". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "infern" derives from the Latin "infernum" (literally "that which is below"). |
| Cebuano | One etymology suggests "impyerno" may have originated from the Greek "emperene" meaning "fire not easily quenched". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "地狱" is the Chinese word for "hell", but it also means "the underworld" or "the realm of the dead". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 地獄 (dìyù) can also refer to the underworld in Buddhist cosmology, similar to the concept of Purgatory. |
| Corsican | The word "infernu" in Corsican is derived from the Latin word "infernus," which means "the underworld" or "the place of the dead." |
| Croatian | The word 'pakao' in Croatian is derived from the Latin word 'pactum', meaning 'covenant' or 'agreement', and is also used to refer to a 'burden' or 'hardship'. |
| Czech | In Czech, "peklo" also has several other meanings, such as "a big mess" or "a lot of trouble." |
| Danish | The Danish word "helvede" is derived from the Old Norse word "hel", which originally meant "hidden place" or "underworld". |
| Dutch | In Dutch the word "hel" can also mean "slope" or "slope between hills" |
| Esperanto | "Diablo" is also the name of a famous brand of chocolate in Mexico. |
| Estonian | "Kurat," which shares a root with the Russian word for "smoke," also means a "dark place" in Estonian, a meaning that also appears in the Finnish word for "hell," which is "helvetti." |
| Finnish | The word "helvetti" is derived from the Swedish word "helvete", which is a cognate of the English word "hell". |
| French | The French word 'enfer' derives from the Latin word 'infernum', initially meaning 'underworld' and later evolving to mean 'hell'. |
| Frisian | The word "hel" in Frisian can also refer to a concealed place, a place of refuge, or a hidden corner. |
| Galician | The word "carallo" is also used in Galician to refer to the devil or other malevolent beings. |
| Georgian | The word "ჯანდაბა" (hell) is derived from the Persian word "جہنم" (jahannam), which in turn comes from the Hebrew word "גהנום" (gehennom). |
| German | The word “Hölle“ may come from the term “helan“, meaning “to hide“ or ”to cover“ |
| Greek | The Greek word "κόλαση" can also refer to the underworld, a pit, or the abyss. |
| Gujarati | "Naraka" in Gujarati can also refer to the abode of Yama, the god of death. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "lanfè" in Haitian Creole derives from both the French "l'enfer" and the Kongo "lanfwa." |
| Hausa | Hausa "jahannama" is cognate with "jahannam" in Arabic, which refers not only to a destination for the wicked, but also metaphorically to a terrible place. |
| Hawaiian | While "kehena" commonly refers to "hell" or the underworld, it can also denote a "barren land" or a place of darkness, desolation, or punishment. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "גֵיהִנוֹם" (Gehinnom) is derived from the biblical "Valley of Hinnom" outside Jerusalem, initially a place of idol worship and later associated with fiery judgment. |
| Hindi | The word "नरक" (narak) in Hindi has several meanings, including "low place," "affliction," "distress," and "misery." |
| Hmong | In the Hmong culture, "ntuj raug txim" can also refer to a place of suffering in the afterlife where deceased relatives are sent to pay off their sins. |
| Hungarian | "Pokol" also means "puddle" or "pool" in Hungarian and can be traced back to the Proto-Finnic word "pγk" (puddle) |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, the word "helvíti" not only refers to the Christian concept of "hell", but also denotes a state of extreme discomfort or misery. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "oku mmuo" literally translates to "the gathering of spirits". |
| Indonesian | While the Indonesian word 'neraka' is commonly translated as 'hell' in English, it originally derives from the Sanskrit word 'naraka', which more broadly refers to a realm of suffering and torment experienced after death. |
| Irish | In pre-Christian Irish folklore, the word “ifreann” referred to a realm of torment rather than a final destination for the wicked. |
| Italian | The word "inferno" comes from the Latin "infernus," meaning "the lower regions" or "the regions below." |
| Japanese | 地獄 (jigoku) originally meant an underground prison for the dead, but later became associated with Buddhist and Christian concepts of hell. |
| Javanese | "Neraka" means 'the lowest part' and refers to the deepest and lowest levels of the ocean |
| Kannada | In Kannada, the word "ನರಕ" (naraka) can also refer to a hole, cavity, or chasm, especially in the earth. |
| Kazakh | The word "тозақ" is derived from the Persian word "دوزخ" (dozakh), which means "hell" or "a place of torment." |
| Khmer | The word "នរក" (nôrok) in Khmer is derived from the Sanskrit word "naraka" which means "a place of torment" or "a place of suffering". |
| Korean | The word "지옥" (hell) also means "underground" or "the underworld" in Korean and is derived from Sanskrit "naraka", meaning "suffering" or "torment". |
| Kurdish | The word "cehnem" in Kurdish is derived from the Persian word "جهنم" (jahannam), which itself is derived from the Arabic word "جهنم" (jahannam), meaning "hell". In Kurdish, the word "cehnem" can also refer to a place of punishment or retribution. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "тозок" also means "the place where the sun sets" or "the west". |
| Lao | "ນະຮົກ" (hell) may also refer to the state of being tormented or to a place of suffering. |
| Latin | In Latin, "infernum" can refer to the underworld, the realm of the dead, or specifically Hell, the place of eternal punishment. |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "elle" is cognate with the Lithuanian "alija" ("Hades"), the Slavic "elь" ("underworld", "devil"), and the Old Prussian "alija" ("grave"). |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "pragaras" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *preg-, meaning "to burn" or "to roast". |
| Luxembourgish | "Hell" derives from the Old English word "hel," meaning "to conceal or cover," and is cognate with the German word "hölle," meaning "cave" or "hiding place." |
| Macedonian | The word 'пекол' ('pekol') in Macedonian can also refer to a 'cauldron' or a 'hellish abyss'. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "helo" is derived from the Arabic word "jahannam", which also means "hell". |
| Malay | The word "neraka" comes from the Sanskrit word "naraka," which originally meant "a place of punishment" or "a place of torment," but later evolved into the meaning "hell." |
| Malayalam | നരകം is also used in a figurative sense in Malayalam to mean misery or suffering. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "infern" derives from the Latin word "infernum" meaning "lower world", later used by Christians to refer to "hell". |
| Maori | The word "reinga" in Maori also signifies "leaping place" and "disappearance". |
| Marathi | The word "नरक" (narak) in Marathi can also refer to a difficult or unpleasant situation or experience. |
| Mongolian | The word "там" is borrowed from Sanskrit "tapas" meaning "heat, fire" |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The term "ငရဲ" is derived from the Sanskrit "Naraka", which refers to a realm of punishment and suffering in various Indian religions. |
| Nepali | The term "narak" is also used metaphorically to describe "difficult life", "stressful conditions". |
| Norwegian | The word 'helvete' (hell) originally meant 'place hidden from view' or 'cave'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Gehena in Nyanja (Chichewa) derives from the Hebrew word for the Valley of Hinnom, a place of refuse burning and child sacrifice to the false god Moloch. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "دوزخ" (dozakh) ultimately derives from the Avestan word "duždaxta", meaning "badly burnt". |
| Persian | The Persian word "جهنم" is derived from the Avestan word "jahi", originally referring to a place of destruction. |
| Polish | Derived from the Proto-Slavic word pek- meaning "something baked". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "inferno" also refers to a large fire, or a place of intense heat and discomfort. |
| Punjabi | "ਨਰਕ" (pronounced "narak") also means "a very difficult or unpleasant situation" in Punjabi |
| Romanian | "Iad" comes from the Slavic word "jad" meaning "venom" or "poison". |
| Russian | The word "ад" (hell) is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂édʰes, meaning "fire" or "heat", and is cognate with the English word "Hades". |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "seoli" also refers to Hades, the underworld in Greek mythology. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word "ifrinn" derives from the Latin word "infernum" and the Old English word "hell". |
| Serbian | The word "доврага" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dvorъgъ, which originally meant "fence" or "enclosure." |
| Sesotho | The word "lihele" has alternate meanings of "abyss" and "underworld" in Sesotho. |
| Shona | Gehena is a loanword from the Aramaic word gehinnam, which refers to a valley near Jerusalem where refuse was burned and is associated with the concept of eternal punishment. |
| Sindhi | "جهنم" can also be translated as “heat". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Sinhala නිරය, pronounced niraya, has etymological roots in the Sanskrit word niraya meaning “without water” and is closely related to the Buddhist concept of niraya, which encompasses rebirth into one of the hells. |
| Slovak | The word "peklo" is derived from proto-Slavic word "pekti", meaning to bake or roast, so it originally meant a pit for baking. |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word for "hell," huda, derives from the Proto-Slavic word for "bad," xudъ. |
| Somali | Cadaab also refers to a deep pit of ashes, from an origin meaning 'to blacken,' cognate with Hebrew 'heebah' ('ashes'). |
| Spanish | The word "infierno" comes from the Latin word "infernus," which means "the lower world" or "the underworld." |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, the word "naraka" also refers to a deep hole or crater. |
| Swahili | 'Kuzimu' in Swahili originates from the Arabic word 'qibla', meaning 'direction of prayer', and is now used to refer to the southern direction and hence to 'hell'. |
| Swedish | The word "Helvete" is derived from Old Norse "Helvíti," or "home of Hel," in reference to the realm of a powerful goddess who ruled over dishonored or evil figures after their death. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Tagalog, "impyerno" originally meant "pit" or "abyss" and was only later associated with the Christian concept of hell. |
| Tajik | The word "ҷаҳаннам" is derived from the Arabic word "جهنم" which means "fire". It can also be used figuratively to refer to a place of extreme suffering or torment. |
| Tamil | The word "நரகம்" (narakam) in Tamil is derived from the Sanskrit word "नरक" (naraka), which means "a place of torment, hell". |
| Telugu | The word "నరకం" (narakam) is derived from the Sanskrit word "नरक" (naraka), which means "a place of torment or punishment". In Telugu, it is used to refer to the lowest level of hell, where the most wicked are punished. |
| Thai | The root of "นรก" ("hell") derives from Sanskrit's "นรกะ" which also means "human". |
| Turkish | The word "cehennem" originates from the Arabic word "jahannam", meaning "deep pit" or "bottomless pit". |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "пекло" is cognate with the Latin "picare" (to pitch, to tar), ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peḱ- (to cook, to bake). |
| Urdu | جهنم has an alternate meaning of “the mouth of a volcano” in Persian, deriving from Sanskrit "jval" |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, the word "jahannam" comes from the Persian "jahannum", which may be related to the Hebrew "ge hinom" (Valley of Hinnom), which in ancient times was considered a place of fire and damnation. |
| Vietnamese | Despite being used to refer to hell in Vietnamese, "Địa ngục" originally meant "underground prison." |
| Welsh | The word "uffern" is derived from the Latin word "infernum", meaning "the lower world" or "the underworld". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "isihogo" derives from the root word "hogo," meaning "burn" or "fire". |
| Yiddish | Curiously the Yiddish for hell "geyenem" comes from the Middle French "gein" meaning "to torture". |
| Yoruba | "Apaadi" can also mean "darkness," "the underworld," or a "place of torment." |
| Zulu | The word "isihogo" is derived from the root word "hogo", meaning "to tremble" or "to shudder", and signifies the state of perpetual torment and anguish experienced in hell. |
| English | The word "hell" derives from the Old English word "hele", meaning "concealment" or "the underworld". |