Word Origin & History
infernal
c.1374, from O.Fr. infernal, from L.L. infernalis "of the lower regions," from infernus "hell" (Ambrose), lit. "the lower (world)," noun use of L. infernus "lower." For the name of the place, or things which resemble it, the It. form Inferno has been used in Eng. since 1834, from Dante.