shēˈōl, shəˈōl, ˈshēˌōl noun
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Hebrew Shĕ'ōl
: the subterranean world of darkness that in early Hebrew thought resembled the Greek Hades in being an underworld abode where all spirits of the dead were assumed to live a shadowy existence involving neither punishment nor joy, was later conceived of as the intermediate realm of departed spirits where the wicked were punished and the good awaited resurrection to a blessed reward, and was still later conceived of as a place where the wicked were tortured and tormented — compare gehenna , hell , netherworld