infernal

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English infernal,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French infernal, also enfernal,^{[4][5][2][6][7]} from Late Latin īnfernālis (“of the lower regions”),^[5][4][6][8] formed from īnfernus (“situated below, of the lower regions; in Christian use, hell”).^[4][5][8] The Latin adjective is parallel to inferus (“lying below”),^[8][3][9] the source of inferior.^[8] Its Christian use as a noun followed īnfernī (“the shades”) and īnferna (“the lower regions”).^[10][8] The word appears in Anglo-Norman from 1113–19,^[11] and the Middle English Dictionary allows direct borrowing from Latin as well.^[2] The American Heritage Dictionary files the Latin under the root Proto-Indo-European *dher-,^[7] and Merriam-Webster and Barnhart relate it to under.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the realm of the dead, or of hell: about 1374, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,^[4] about 1385 in Barnhart, in the Canterbury Tales.^[6] Chaucer uses it four times and Gower once.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The word first belonged both to the classical underworld, the sunless abode of the dead, and to the Christian hell;^[5][2][4] Pluto was īnfernus rex, and the link with fire and heat comes from the Christian idea of hell.^[5] The sense "devilish, wicked" is in the Middle English Dictionary and in Lydgate's Falls of Princes of probably before 1439,^[2][6] although the OED's first record of "fiendish" is from 1603.^[4] "Hellish", as of heat, followed in 1562.^[4][6] As a term of strong irritation, "confounded", it is colloquial from 1764, in Foote's Patron;^[4][8] Johnson's definition, "hellish; tartarean" in 1755, added "detestable" in 1773.^[13] Technical uses include infernal stone, an old name for lunar caustic, recorded from 1706 to 1855,^[4] and infernal machine, a disguised explosive device, from 1810,^[4] now archaic.^[8] From 1582, in the Rheims Bible, the adjective was also a noun, an inhabitant of hell.^[4][8] Since 1834 the Italian form inferno, through Dante, has served as a name for hell and for things that resemble it.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1374 – of the underworld or of hell.^[4]
• before 1439 – devilish, diabolical.^[6][2] The OED has this from 1603.^[4]
• 1562 – hellish, like that of hell.^[4][6] Etymonline dates “suitable for Hell” to about 1600.^[5]
• 1582 – noun, an inhabitant of hell.^[4]
• 1613 – noun plural, the infernal regions (obsolete by 1673).^[4]
• 1706 – infernal stone, lunar caustic (obsolete by 1855).^[4]
• 1748 – noun, a person of fiendish character.^[4]
• 1764 – colloquially, confounded, detestable.^[4]
• 1810 – infernal machine, a disguised explosive device.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the underworld of the dead in ancient belief, or of hell.^[14][3][4]
2. Like hell or its inhabitants; diabolical, fiendish: an infernal plot against the town.^[14][3][4]
3. (informal) Very annoying; confounded: that infernal car alarm.^[14][3][8]
4. infernal machine: (archaic) a disguised explosive device.^[8][4]

Noun

1. (archaic) An infernal person or thing, usually in the plural.^[3][8]
2. (obsolete, 1613–1673) infernals: the infernal regions; hell.^[3][4]

Word family

• infernally
• infernality
• infernal machine

Related words

• inferno
• inferior
• infra-
• under

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins