Hades

[ hey-deez ]

noun
  1. Classical Mythology.

    • the underworld inhabited by departed souls.

    • the god ruling the underworld; Pluto.

  2. (in the Revised Version of the New Testament) the abode or state of the dead.

  1. (often lowercase) hell.

Origin of Hades

1
First recorded in 1590–1600

Other words from Hades

  • Ha·de·an [hey-dee-uhn, hey-dee-uhn], /heɪˈdi ən, ˈheɪ di ən/, adjective

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How to use Hades in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Hades

Hades

/ (ˈheɪdiːz) /


noun
  1. Greek myth

    • the underworld abode of the souls of the dead

    • Pluto, the god of the underworld, brother of Zeus and husband of Persephone

  2. New Testament the abode or state of the dead

  1. (often not capital) informal hell

Derived forms of Hades

  • Hadean (heɪˈdiːən, ˈheɪdɪən), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Hades

Hades

The Greek and Roman god of the underworld and the ruler of the dead. Also called Dis. The underworld itself was also known to the Greeks as Hades.

Notes for Hades

The Greek and Roman underworld later became associated with the hell of Christianity, as in the expression “hot as Hades.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.