A place of blood or wickedness, originally referring to a field in Jerusalem, mentioned in the Bible as purchased with the money that Judas received for betraying Jesus.
From Aramaic 'Hakeldama' meaning 'field of blood,' combining 'haqal' (field) and 'dama' (blood). The term entered English through Greek transliteration in biblical texts and has been used metaphorically since medieval times.
Aceldama appears in the King James Bible and became a literary symbol for places of tragedy and guilt—Dickens and other authors used it to describe wicked locations, showing how biblical place-names shaped English vocabulary and metaphor.
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