From Latin 'infernus' (lower, underground) — originally 'the place below,' not fire. Dante fused underworld with flames.
A large, uncontrollable, and very hot fire; a place or situation resembling hell.
From Italian 'inferno' (hell), from Late Latin 'infernus' (hell, the underworld), from Latin 'infernus' (lower, beneath, underground), from 'inferus' (low, below). The Latin 'inferus' derives from PIE *ndhero- (under, lower), from *ndher- (under). The word entered English directly from Italian, heavily influenced by Dante Alighieri's 'Inferno' (c. 1314), the first canticle of the 'Divine Comedy,' which depicted hell as a descending cone of fire and suffering. Key
The word 'inferno' is etymologically unrelated to fire. It means 'the lower place' — from Latin 'inferus' (below). Hell was 'inferno' because it was underground, beneath the earth, not because it was hot. The association with fire came from Christian theology, not from the word's Latin roots. Dante's 'Inferno' cemented the fire connection so firmly that most English speakers
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