Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Everything After Z
Word of the Day
Video
Word Facts
Grammar
Crossword Solver
Daily Crossword
All The Words
Slang
Emoji
Gender & Sexuality
Acronyms
Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Try Our Apps
definitions
Search
synonyms
Avernus
[
uh
-
vur
-n
uh
s]
WORD ORIGIN
noun
a lake near Naples, Italy, looked upon in ancient times as an entrance to
hell
, from whose waters vile-smelling vapors arose, supposedly killing birds flying over it.
hell
.
Origin of
Avernus
<
Latin
<
Greek
áornos
birdless, equivalent to
a-
a-
6
+
órn(is
) bird +
-os
adj. suffix
Related forms
A·ver·nal
,
adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019