inferno

C2+ Topic:Places & Geography

US /ɪnˈfɜrnoʊ/ UK /ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a large, fierce, and destructive fire; a place of torment

Firefighters battled the inferno that engulfed the warehouse.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a large, fierce, and... blaze conflagrationfirestormhell holocaust

Word family

Derived forms infernal

Related forms infernal inferiorinfra

Simplified etymology

Inferno entered English from Italian, where it meant “hell,” a use strongly associated with the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Italian inferno comes from Latin infernus, “below” or “subterranean,” also the source of infernal and a relative of inferior. In English, inferno later broadened to mean any large fire raging out of control.

Etymology

From Italian inferno ('hell'), from Late Latin infernus ('the lower world, hell'), from Latin infernus ('lower'), from inferus ('low, below').

infernus Latin inferus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# inferno

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈfɜrnoʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ/

## Meanings
1. a large, fierce, and destructive fire; a place of torment

## Examples
- Firefighters battled the inferno that engulfed the warehouse.

## Synonyms
- blaze
- conflagration
- firestorm
- hell
- holocaust

## Derived Forms
- infernal

## Related Forms
- infernal
- inferior
- infra

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: infernus
- Root: inferus

## Etymology
From Italian inferno ('hell'), from Late Latin infernus ('the lower world, hell'), from Latin infernus ('lower'), from inferus ('low, below').

## AI Etymology
Inferno comes from Italian inferno ('hell'), from Late Latin infernus ('the lower world, hell'), from Latin infernus ('lower'), from inferus ('low, below'). The etymological trail includes Latin infernus and Latin inferus. As a noun, inferno means a large, fierce, and destructive fire; a place of torment. The same family is visible in derived forms such as infernal and related forms such as infernal, inferior, and infra.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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