hel

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Danish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (whole, sound), cognate with English whole, German heil, Dutch heel, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (hails).

Adjective

hel (neuter helt, plural and definite singular attributive hele)

  1. whole, entire, complete, full (undivided, with all elements)
  2. whole, intact, undamaged (not broken)
  3. the hour, top of the hour (at the start of a new hour)
  4. entire (Used to indicate that an amount is considered large.)
    • 2012, Jan Sonnergaard, Trilogien, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN:
      Man kan være så frygteligt alene i måneder, hele måneder ad gangen, og gøre stort set alt hvad der står i éns magt for at komme i kontakt.
      One can be so terribly alone for months, entire months at a time, and do practically anything in one's power to get in contact.
    • 2012, Ib Melchior, Spionjæger - en dansk kontraspions bedrifter i den amerikanske hær under 2. verdenskrig, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:
      Jeg så en mand, der holdt sin Soldbuch frem til samtlige GI'er, der gik forbi i en hel halv time, og ingen tog notits af ham.
      I saw a man who held out his Soldbuch to every single GI who want past him for an entire half hour, and no one took any notice of him.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

hel

  1. imperative of hele

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɦɛl/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: hel
  • Rhymes: -ɛl

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch helle, from Old Dutch hella, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (to cover, hide, conceal).

Noun

hel f (plural hellen, diminutive helletje n)

  1. (religion, mythology) hell, an infernal afterlife
    Synonyms: poel, jammerpoel
    Ik hoop dat je zal branden in de hel.
    I hope you will burn in hell.
  2. (figurative) a terrible place or ordeal
    Hij maakte daarmee haar leven tot een hel.
    With that he made her life into a hell.
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Negerhollands: hel, hei

Etymology 2

Cognate with German hell.

Adjective

hel (comparative heller, superlative helst)

  1. (archaic) bright
Declension
Declension of hel
uninflected hel
inflected helle
comparative heller
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial hel heller het helst
het helste
indefinite m./f. sing. helle hellere helste
n. sing. hel heller helste
plural helle hellere helste
definite helle hellere helste
partitive hels hellers

Etymology 3

See hal.

Noun

hel n or f (plural hellen, diminutive helletje n)

  1. Alternative form of hal (frozen spot)

Etymology 4

Verb

hel

  1. inflection of hellen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

References

  • van Veen, P.A.F., van der Sijs, Nicoline (1997) Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden (in Dutch), Utrecht, Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie, →ISBN

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse hel, from Proto-Germanic *haljō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (to cover, hide, conceal).

Pronunciation

Noun

hel f (genitive singular heljar, no plural)

  1. hell (underworld), death

Declension

    Declension of hel
f-s1 singular
indefinite
nominative hel
accusative hel
dative hel
genitive heljar

The dative helju also occurs, mainly in the phrase heimta úr helju. The word is normally not used with suffixed article, but the genitive definite form, heljarinnar, occurs as an intensifier (meaning something like “hell of a”).

Limburgish

Etymology 1

From Early Modern Limburgish hèl, from Middle Dutch helle.

Alternative forms

Noun

hel f

  1. hell
  2. (figuratively) a bad place to be
    Synonym: verdommenis

Etymology 2

From earlier helle.

Alternative forms

Adjective

hel (comparative helder, superlative hels, predicative superlative 't hèls)

  1. hard, tough, difficult
  2. hard, rough, pointed
  3. hard, heavy
  4. hard, solid
  5. loud

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

hel

  1. Alternative form of hele (health)

Etymology 2

Proper noun

hel

  1. Alternative form of helle

Northern Kurdish

Noun

hel f

  1. solution

Synonyms

Derived terms

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse heill (whole, complete), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz.

Alternative forms

Adjective

hel (neuter singular helt, definite singular and plural hele)

  1. whole, unbroken
    Hun har ikke røykt på en hel uke.
    She hasn't smoked for a whole week.
    Jeg vet ikke, hele denne greia virker litt risikabel for meg.
    I don't know, this whole thing seems a little risky to me.
    Jeg tror ikke han forstår hvorfor, Harry, men han hadde det så travelt med å kveste sin egen sjel at han aldri tok seg tid til å forstå den uforliknelige kraft i en sjel som er uplettet og hel. (from page 463 of the Norwegian translation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter og Halvblodsprinsen)
    I do not think he understands why, Harry, but he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole. (from page 478 of the original British version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
  2. pure, all
    Jeg fikk tak i en genser i hel ull, den blir god å ha når vinteren kommer.
    I got myself a pure wool sweater, it'll come in handy when winter arrives.
  3. (used as a noun) it, all of it, the whole/entire thing
    Og det beste ved det hele er at jeg slipper å se deg i to, hele måneder!
    And the best part of it is that I don't have to see you for two whole months!
Synonyms
whole, unbroken, pure
Derived terms

See also terms derived from heil

Etymology 2

Verb

hel

  1. imperative of hele

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse hel, from Proto-Germanic *haljō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (to cover, hide, conceal). Cognate with Faroese and Icelandic hel.

Pronunciation

Noun

hel f

  1. death, underworld
    i helto death
  2. (Norse mythology) Hel (the realm of the dead who did not die in combat)
    Synonyms: helheim, daudeheim, dauderike

Derived terms

References

  • hel” in The Ordnett Dictionary
  • “hel” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

hel f

  1. Alternative form of hell

Declension

Old Frisian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos. Cognates include Old English hāl, Old Saxon hēl and Old Dutch heil.

Pronunciation

Adjective

hēl

  1. whole

Descendants

  • Saterland Frisian: heel
  • West Frisian: hiel

References

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *haljō. Doublet of Hel.

Noun

hel f (genitive heljar, dative helju)

  1. (Germanic paganism) the underworld, personified the goddess of the same name
  2. (Christianity) Hell

Declension

Descendants

References

  • hel”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (to cover, hide, conceal).

Noun

hel f

  1. hell
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz.

Adjective

hēl

  1. whole, hale
Declension


Descendants

Etymology 3

From Proto-West Germanic *hail, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz, a noun of similar derivation to the above adjective.

Noun

hēl n

  1. omen
Declension


Descendants
  • Middle Low German: hēl

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Dutch geel.

Adjective

hel

  1. yellow

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl
Chemical element
He
Previous: wodór (H)
Next: lit (Li)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin hēlium.

Pronunciation

Noun

hel m inan (related adjective helowy)

  1. helium (second lightest chemical element (symbol He) with an atomic number of 2 and atomic weight of 4.002602, a colorless, odorless, and inert noble gas)

Declension

Derived terms

nouns

Further reading

  • hel in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • hel in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • hel in PWN's encyclopedia

Somali

Verb

hel

  1. to like
  2. to find

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse heill, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz.

Pronunciation

Adjective

hel (comparative helare, superlative helast)

  1. (only attributively) (the) whole
    Hela huset brann ner
    The whole house burned down
    Jag skulle kunna äta en hel elefant
    I could eat an entire elephant
  2. whole (intact, not broken)
    Fönstret är helt
    The window isn't broken
  3. (as a prefix) completely, totally, full, whole

Declension

Inflection of hel
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular hel helare helast
Neuter singular helt helare helast
Plural hela helare helast
Masculine plural3 hele helare helast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 hele helare helaste
All hela helare helaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

References

Welsh

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *selgā, from Proto-Indo-European *selǵ- (let loose, send). Cognate with Old Irish selg.[1]

Pronunciation

Verb

hel (first-person singular present helaf, not mutable)

  1. (North Wales) to send, to drive, to chase
  2. (North Wales) to collect, to gather
  3. (North Wales) to frequent, to visit often

Conjugation

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “hel”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

West Frisian

Pronunciation

Noun

hel c (plural )

  1. hell

Further reading

  • hel”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English halle, from Old English hol.

Pronunciation

Adjective

hel

  1. hollow

Derived terms

References

  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 45