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enfer

Etymology and origin of the French word enfer

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (enfern)
Inherited from
Latin infernus
Ultimate origin
Latin (īnfernus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.fɛʁ/[1]

Forms

enfer m (plural enfers)[1] Old French enfern (late 10th century), enfer (about 1100), infer (about 1220); plural les enfers from the 12th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Ecclesiastical Latin īnfernus (“hell”), also īnfernum, the Christian Latin noun formed from the classical adjective īnfernus (“lower, of the regions below”), a doublet of īnferus.[2][3][5][6][7][1] Pagan Latin used neuter and masculine plurals of the adjective for “the lower places” and “the gods below”, whence the plural “les enfers” for the underworld of antiquity.[5][6][4] The TLFi describes the word as taken from Christian Latin.[2] Rey calls the adjective a word of dialect origin.[3] The Latin word passed to Basque infernu and Breton ifern.[3][8]

Cognate with Italian inferno, Occitan enfern, Catalan infern, Spanish infierno and Portuguese inferno.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Clermont Passion (late 10th century) has enfern for the place where the damned are punished.[2][3] The Chanson de Roland has L'enchanteür qui ja fut en enfer.[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century the plural enfers is the abode of the dead in Judaeo-Christian language (Psautier d'Oxford), and Chrétien de Troyes (about 1165) uses anfer for the underworld of ancient myth, which from the Renaissance (1538) is usually plural.[2][3] Guillaume de Lorris (about 1245) uses it figuratively for torment: Comment hons… Puet vivre un mois en tel enfer.[2][10]

Like diable, it is a key word of popular Christianity, with many phrases and proverbs, such as l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions.[3][8] Feu d'enfer “raging fire” dates from 1802, also of gunfire (1835), and jouer un jeu d'enfer “to play hard and for high stakes” from 1801; familiar d'enfer now also means “terrific”.[3][11][8] Since 1870 l'Enfer has also been the locked section of a library for books thought licentious.[4]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – Enfern, Clermont Passion.[2]
  • First half of the 12th century – Les enfers, Psautier d'Oxford.[2]
  • c. 1165 – The underworld of myth, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1245 – “Torment”, Guillaume de Lorris.[2]
  • 1801 – Jouer un jeu d'enfer.[11]
  • 1802 – Feu d'enfer.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. hell, the place of the damned: aller en enfer, l'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions.[8][1]
  2. (plural, mythology) The underworld: descendre aux enfers.[2][4]
  3. A place or situation of great suffering: vivre un enfer, c'est l'enfer.[1][3]
  4. D'enfer: infernal, violent, excessive: un feu, un bruit, un train d'enfer, (familiar) terrific: un plan d'enfer.[4][8]
  5. L'Enfer: the restricted section of a library.[4]
  • infernal
  • inférieur
  • infime
  • Latin īnfernus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 666a
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Enfer.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/enfer. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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