netherworld

plural netherworlds · alternative nether world

1. The place to which one's spirit descends upon death, conceived as below the surface of the earth.

   In some religions, one's soul departs to a netherworld, instead of the heavens.

   1 more example

   As Inanna prepares to descend she fastens the seven divine laws to her side, and as she walks toward the netherworld she speaks to her vizier, Ninshubur.

   1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 174

2. The locale of the spirit world or afterlife, whether deemed to be situated below the world of the living or not.

   While I was astrally projecting, I felt my soul pass through many insubstantial netherworlds.

   Synonyms: astral plane, heaven

3. Specifically, a location of punishment in the afterlife; a hell.

   The missionary was motivated by a sincere desire to rescue souls from eternal torment in the netherworld.

   Synonyms: damnation, Hades, hell, underworld

4. broadlyA hidden, shadowy, or sinister subculture, such as that of organized crime.

   Richard had been initiated into the netherworld of dog racing by his father, and knew all the popular greyhound performance-enhancing drugs.

   1 more example

   Flicks is a large bar which has been in some conflict since it opened […] The nature of that conflict has been characterized as gay-straight, by the bar managers; as crazies-sane, by some residents; as predators-prey, by some bar patrons; and as "netherworld"-respectable, by some bureaucrats.

   1975 December 20, Joe Beckmann, “The Vara Bars--What Solution”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 25, page 3

   Synonyms: underworld