Averno

American  

[uh-vur-noh, ah-ver-naw] / əˈvɜr noʊ, ɑˈvɛr nɔ /

noun

1. a crater lake in S Italy, near Naples and the Tyrrhenian Sea, thought by ancients to be the entrance to the underworld.

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Averno British  

/ aˈvɛrno /

noun

1. Latin name: Avernus.  a crater lake in Italy, near Naples: in ancient times regarded as an entrance to hell

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Etymology

Origin of Averno

from Latin, from Greek aornos without birds, from _a- ¹ + ornis bird; referring to the legend that the lake's sulphurous exhalations killed birds

Example Sentences

Paul Daniel conducts the initial performances, with Barbara Hannigan and Kerstin Averno sharing the title role.

From New York Times • Sep. 27, 2012

"Facilis descensus Averno" is the motto over its downward path.

From Exempting the Churches An Argument for the Abolition of This Unjust and Unconstitutional Practice by James F. Morton. Jr.

I think it was Virgil who said Facilis descensus Averno, and I suppose Mr. Henderson, in his statement, is trying to save me from the inconveniences of this trip.

From Reveries of a Schoolmaster by Pearson, Francis B.

I had left the cover drawn tightly over the cage, telling Cynthia that it would protect the bird from the night dews, Facilis descensus Averno.

From Latitude 19 degree A Romance of the West Indies in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Twenty by Crowninshield, Mrs. Schuyler

These words undoubtedly indicate the accomplishment of the "facilis descensus Averno" by the native deities.

From Elizabethan Demonology by Spalding, Thomas Alfred