Meanings
Acheron1
- Greekhuman sciencesA river in the infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets, it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.
Behold! I rise from primal silence / As a storm crushing dismal shores ov Acheron
2009, Behemoth, The Seed ov I3 more examples
Ile diue into the burning lake belowe, / And pull her out of Acaron by the heeles.
c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], signature H, rectoAcheron and Phlegeton, which a subterraneous fire causes to boil, are the billows of that hell which was visited by Æneas.
1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 234The Greeks believed that Hades was beneath the earth. It had five rivers—the Acheron, the Kokytos, the Lethe, the Pyriphlegethon, and the Styx. Each served as a boundary between the land of the living and the land of the dead.
1974, C[ovington] Scott Littleton, “Hades”, in The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 9 (H), Chicago, Ill.: Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, →ISBN, page 4, column 2 - literaryHell.
Acheron2
Origin
- Pre-Greek
- Ancient GreekἈχέρων
- LatinAcherōn
- EnglishAcheron
Borrowed from Latin Acherōn, from Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn), probably Pre-Greek but folk-etymologically said to be from ἄχος (ákhos, “pain, distress”) + ῥέον (rhéon, “stream”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Pre-Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων
- Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn)a river
Basque Akeronte
- Akerontea river
Bulgarian Ахерон
- Ахерон (Aheron)a river
Chinese Mandarin 阿刻戎
- 阿刻戎 (Ākèróng)a river
Esperanto Akerono, Aĥerono
- Akeronoa river
- Aĥeronoa river
Finnish Akheron
- Akherona river
French Achéron
- Achérona river
Greek Αχέρων, Αχέροντας
- Αχέρων (Achéron)a river
- Αχέροντας (Achérontas)a river
Italian Acheronte
- Acherontea river
Japanese アケローン
- アケローン (Akerōn)a river
Korean 아케론강
- 아케론강 (Akeron'gang)a river
Latin Acherōn
- Acherōna river
Persian آخرون
- آخرون (âxerun)a river
Portuguese Aqueronte
- Aquerontea river
Romanian Aheron
- Aherona river
Russian Ахеро́н
- Ахеро́н (Axerón)a river
Spanish Aqueronte, Aquerón
- Aquerontea river
- Aqueróna river
Ukrainian Ахеро́нт
- Ахеро́нт (Axerónt)a river
Cite this entry
Acheron. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acheron
“Acheron.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acheron. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Acheron,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Acheron.
Source: Acheron on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.