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abyss

noun
/əˈbɪs/UK/əˈbɪs/US

Etymology

From Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus (“a bottomless gulf”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos, “bottomless”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + βυσσός (bussós, “deep place”), from βυθός (buthós, “deep place”). Displaced native Old English neowolnes.

  1. derived from ἄβυσσος
  2. derived from abyssus
  3. inherited from abissus

Definitions

  1. Hell

    Hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean.

    • 'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!'

  2. A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm

    A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable; any void space.

    • Below is the deep abyss of the Lauterbrunnen valley, and at its head a stately semi-circle of mountains, with the pyramidal Lauterbrunnen Breithorn as the centre-piece.

  3. Anything infinite, immeasurable, or profound.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Moral depravity

      Moral depravity; vast intellectual or moral depth.

      • They fell into the abyss of drug addiction.

    2. An impending catastrophic happening.

    3. The center of an escutcheon

      The center of an escutcheon; fess point.

    4. The abyssal zone.

    5. A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.

The neighborhood

Derived

abysmic, abyssal, abyssic, abysslike, abyssobenthic, abyssolith, abyssolithic, abyssopelagic, oceanic abyss

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for abyss. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA