Where does “hellfire” come from?
Hellfire comes from Middle English helle fire and Old English hellefȳr, a compound of hell and fire referring to the flames of hell.
hellfire (English): The fire of Hell; Fire produced by the Devil, or...
Definitions
- The fire of Hell; Fire produced by the Devil, or...
Ancestry of “hellfire”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | helle fire | — |
| 2 | Old English | hellefȳr | — |
| 3 | Old English | fȳr | fire |
| 4 | Old English | feor | Alternative form of feorr; far |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | ferrai | far, distant |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per-nóy | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |