From PIE *ḱel- (to cover, hide) — literally 'the hidden realm,' kin to 'helmet,' 'conceal,' 'cell,' and 'occult.'
The abode of the dead or of condemned souls in religious thought; a state or place of great suffering or punishment.
From Old English 'hell' (the underworld, the abode of the dead), from Proto-Germanic *haljō (the concealed place, the underworld), from PIE *ḱel- (to cover, to conceal, to hide). Hell is literally 'the hidden place' — the concealed realm beneath the earth where the dead go. The same PIE root produced Latin 'cēlāre' (to hide), English 'conceal,' and 'helmet' (that which covers the head). In Norse mythology, the underworld was ruled by Hel, the goddess whose name