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I have found a funny coincidence going through etymology. I found that the word occult comes from the same root *kel as hell. I feel like that is a spooky coincidence. The word *kel in PIE means to conceal, and the occult and hell are “concealed” in similar ways. Is this true?

Number File
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    https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=etymology+occult versus https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ACYBGNT30D2sfV0-0LjyPTorBiuebHr0FQ%3A1575739227514&ei=W9_rXcL9Hsy_0PEPv4CQ4AI&q=etymology+hell&oq=etymology+hell&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l6j0i22i30l4.25147.25647..26202...0.4..0.111.341.3j1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j35i39j0i20i263.bSw9lk8BbIQ&ved=0ahUKEwiCl6iHhqTmAhXMHzQIHT8ABCwQ4dUDCAo&uact=5 – user6726 Dec 07 '19 at 17:21
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    @user6726: Fun fact about Google: because Google locates me in Germany, it presents the etymology of the German adjective hell "shiny, bright" here. – Sir Cornflakes Dec 07 '19 at 18:13

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It is indeed true!

Proto-Indo-European *ḱel "conceal" > Proto-Germanic *haljō "concealed place" > Old English hell "underworld" > English "hell"

Proto-Indo-European *ḱel "conceal" > Latin *ob-celō > occulō "conceal" > occultus "(that which is) concealed" > English "occult"

Draconis
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  • I thought so. Saw the same thing – Number File Dec 07 '19 at 19:03
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    The derivation of "hell" from *ḱel is widely, but not universally accepted. https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/85636?rskey=uzK3oW&result=1#eid – fdb Dec 08 '19 at 00:26
  • @fdb That would make a good answer! – Draconis Dec 08 '19 at 02:56
  • @Draconis you misunderstand the purpose of the comment. You are supposed to bring that information into your post in order to improve it. – user64742 Dec 08 '19 at 05:21
  • @TheGreatDuck No, I know, but I'm saying this question might benefit from another answer. Fdb could potentially provide much better information about the other viewpoint than I could, especially since I hadn't heard of this theory before and can't access the OED at the moment (though I have no doubt there's good information there). – Draconis Dec 08 '19 at 05:31
  • A. Liberman's blog over at OUP agrees that there's no secure etymology. At any rate, cognate in the strict sense means a little bit more than having the same supposed root from an arbitrary point in time; allsomore if the lexicon isn't exclusively monotonically branching. – vectory Dec 10 '19 at 01:48
  • as for punishment, detention hall is a good comparison; for after-life, I wonder how Val-Halla compares (a place in the Netherlands, if I'm not mistaken); for a grim outlook: cp hal "salt", perhaps G Halde "mount", think Star-Wars' salt mines, cp G Bau "prison; mine; construction industry; building; ..."; cp for analogy Saal "hall", Seil "rope", *sailaz, etc, cf fesseln "to tie sb. up", fassen "to hold"; also cp Zeche "mining business, mine", OHG "order" (cf Kroonen) vs biblical "bring ones house in order", and the whole Arbeit, Erbe, orphan thing; cp Bergwerk – vectory Dec 10 '19 at 02:02
  • I mean, cp cell, cellarium, dungeons, and eventually Höhle "cave", (cp cave, cover), hollow, aushöhlen "to make hollow" (cp *(s)kel-, *(s)ker-?), hohlen "to get, take, haul", though also cp ceiling, viz "roof", ciel "sky, heaven" as the basic symbol for protection. By the way, isn't occult rather close to cult, but also occlude? Eventually I punned ox-cult, cp the condemned Moloch Cult of Canaan. – vectory Dec 10 '19 at 02:20