inferno
/ɪnˈfɝnoʊ/ noun
Forms infernos
- noun A place or situation resembling Hell.
- noun A large fire; a conflagration. “The inferno ripped through the forest, destroying anything in its path.”
Synonyms
afterlife hell hell on earth hellhole snake pit the pits conflagration perdition infernal region nether region pit
Etymology
From Italian inferno (“hell”), from Latin infernus (“of the lower regions”), inferna (“the lower regions”); see infernal.
The meaning "big fire" came as a figurative use from the traditional idea of hellfire.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “inferno”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details