the valley below Jerusalem, where children were sacrificed and where idolatry was practised (II Kings 23:10; Jeremiah 19:6) and where later offal and refuse were slowly burned
2. New Testament, Judaism
a place where the wicked are punished after death
3.
a place or state of pain and torment
Word origin
C16: from Late Latin, from Greek Geena, from Hebrew Gê' Hinnōm, literally: valley of Hinnom, symbolic of hell
Gehenna in American English1
(gɪˈhɛnə; gəˈhɛnə)
noun
1.
a place of torment
2.
hell
Word origin
see Gehenna2
Gehenna in American English2
(gɪˈhɛnə; gəˈhɛnə)
the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where refuse was burned in Biblical times
Word origin
LL(Ec) < Gr Geenna, hell < Heb gey hinom, where the kings Ahaz and Manasseh were said to have sacrificed their sons to Moloch