Where does “i helvete” come from?
i helvete (Swedish) comes from Swedish i, from Swedish hop, from Old Norse hópr, from Middle Low German hōp, from Old Saxon hōp, from Proto-West Germanic haup, from Proto-Germanic haupaz, from Proto-Indo-European koupos — hill.
i helvete (Swedish): the hell, the fuck (after an interrogative term)
Definitions
- the hell, the fuck (after an interrogative term)
Ancestry of “i helvete”, step by step
i helvete traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Swedish i
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swedish | i | used to signify that an action is done with... |
| 2 | Swedish | hop | heap, collection; a whole bunch |
| 3 | Old Norse | hópr | heap; group |
| 4 | Middle Low German | hōp | — |
| 5 | Old Saxon | hōp | — |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | haup | heap, pile |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | haupaz | a heap, pile; a crowd, throng |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | koupos | hill |