English
Hel
Hel comes from Old Norse hel, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *haljō ‘the netherworld, the underworld, hell’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haljō‘the netherworld, the underworld, hell’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hel
- EnglishtodayHel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haljō‘the netherworld, the underworld, hell’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hel
- EnglishtodayHel
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover, hide, conceal’
color, hall, hole, cell, holder, ceiling, hell, hull, hollow, halt, holden, conceal, uphold, helmet, occult, clandestine, sari, sala, helm, cilia, recline, declination, declension, tricolour, holing, haugh, halberd, seel, hele, 37 more
Today it means
name The goddess of the realm of the unheroic dead, a daughter of Loki by the jotun Angrboða.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *haljō / Hel