Abyss

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Table of contents

1 Etymology 2 Noun 2.1 Usage Note 2.2 Translations 3 Derived Terms

Etymology

From Latin abyssus, a bottomless gulf, from Greek abyssos, bottomless, from a- privative suffix + byssos, depth, bottom

Noun

abyss

1. A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit.

   Quotations

   • Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost abyss - John Milton
   • The throne is darkness, in the abyss of light - John Dryden

2. Infinite time; a vast intellectual or moral depth.

   Quotations

   • The abysses of metaphysical theology - Thomas Macaulay
   • In unfathomable abysses of disgrace - Edmund Burke

3. (Heraldry): The center of an escutcheon.

Usage Note

This word, in its leading uses, is associated with the cosmological notions of the Hebrews, having reference to a supposed illimitable mass of waters from which our earth sprung, and beneath whose profound depths the wicked were punished. - Encyclopedia Britannica

Translations

• Dutch: afgrond m, ravijn n
• Esperanto: abismo
• French: abîme m, gouffre m
• Frisian: ôfgrûn, djipte, ravyn n
• German: Abgrund m
• Interlingua: abysso
• Spanish: abismo m

Derived Terms

• abysmal