inferno

UK: /ɪnˈfɜː^rnəʊ/

US: /ɪnˈfɝnoʊ/

US: (in fûr′nō; for 3 also It. ēn fer′nô)

Inflections of 'inferno' (n): npl: infernos

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

in•fer•no /ɪnˈfɜrnoʊ/   n. [countable] , pl. -nos. 

1. a place that resembles hell, esp. in heat:
   The flaming skyscraper had become a towering inferno.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

in•fer•no  (in fûr′nō; for 3 also It. ēn fer′nô), n., pl. -nos. 

1. hell;
   the infernal regions.
2. a place or region that resembles hell:
   The ironworks was an inferno of molten steel and half-naked bodies.
3. Literature (cap., italics) the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy, depicting hell and the suffering of the damned. Cf. paradise (def. 7), purgatory (def. 2).

• Late Latin infernus hell, noun, nominal use of Latin infernus; see infernal
• Italian
• 1825–35

Synonyms

• 2. furnace, hellhole, oven.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

inferno / ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ/ noun ( -nos)

1. the inferno ⇒ (sometimes capital) hell; the infernal region
2. any place or state resembling hell, esp a conflagration

Etymology: 19th Century: from Italian, from Late Latin infernus hell