Tartarus

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/ˈtɑː(r)tərəs/

proper noun

A dark and gloomy part of the realm of Hades, reserved for the damned and the wicked, such as the Titans; an equivalent of hell in Greek and Roman mythology.

Similar
Gehenna
OriginLatin Tartarus ← Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros) →
UncommonScrabble 8
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. GreekRomanhuman sciencesA dark and gloomy part of the realm of Hades, reserved for the damned and the wicked, such as the Titans; an equivalent of hell in Greek and Roman mythology.

    […] them with Fire and hoſtile Arms / Fearleſs aſſault, and to the brow of Heav'n / Purſuing, drive them out from God and bliſs, / Into thir place of puniſhment, the Gulf / Of Tartarus, which ready opens wide / His fiery Chaos to receave thir fall.

    1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 50–55
  2. figurativelyAny hellish place; a dark gloomy chasm or pit.

    After arranging a rendezvous, we separate. Mattie and Liz go off in one direction, and Em and I in another. From this our progress seems like a descent into Tartarus. Em pauses before a miserable-looking saloon, pushes open the low, swinging door, and we go in.

    1890, William Booth, “Round the slums of New York”, in In Darkest England and the Way Out, page 161
    1 more example

    We lay there hour after hour in terror and misery of mind so deep that I will not attempt to describe it, and listened to the wild storm-voices of that Tartarus, as, set to the deep undertone of the spur opposite against which the wind hummed like some awful harp, they called to each other from precipice to precipice.

    1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna place where the wicked are punished after death

Similar
Gehenna
Broader
HellperditionInferno
Also see
gehenna

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient GreekΤάρταρος (Tártaros)
  2. LatinTartarus
  3. EnglishTartarus

Borrowed from Latin Tartarus, borrowed from Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek Τάρταρος
  • Τάρταρος (Tártaros)dark part of Hades
Bulgarian преизподня
  • преизподня (preizpodnja)dark part of Hades
Catalan Tàrtar
  • Tàrtardark part of Hades
French Tartare
  • Tartaredark part of Hades
German Tartaros
  • Tartarosdark part of Hades
Hungarian Tartarosz
  • Tartaroszdark part of Hades
Italian Tartaro
  • Tartarodark part of Hades
Polish Tartar
  • Tartardark part of Hades
Romanian Tartar
  • Tartardark part of Hades
Russian Та́ртар
  • Та́ртар (Tártar)dark part of Hades
Slovak tartar
  • tartardark part of Hades
Spanish Tártaro
  • Tártarodark part of Hades
Cite this entry
APA

Tartarus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tartarus

MLA

“Tartarus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tartarus. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tartarus,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tartarus.

Source: Tartarus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.