abyss

¹

[uh-bis]

noun

1. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm.

2. anything that seems to be without end or is impossible to measure, define, or comprehend.

   the abyss of their grief and sorrow.

3. (in ancient cosmogony)

   1. the primal chaos before Creation.

   2. the infernal regions; hell.

   3. a subterranean ocean.

Abyss.

²

abbreviation

1. Abyssinia.

2. Abyssinian.

abyss

/ əˈbɪs /

noun

1. a very deep or unfathomable gorge or chasm

2. anything that appears to be endless or immeasurably deep, such as time, despair, or shame

3. hell or the infernal regions conceived of as a bottomless pit

Word History and Origins

Origin of abyss¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus, from Greek ábyssos “bottomless,” equivalent to a- a- ⁶ + byssós “bottom of the sea”

Word History and Origins

Origin of abyss¹

C16: via Late Latin from Greek abussos bottomless (as in the phrase abussos limnē bottomless lake), from _a- ¹ + bussos depth

Example Sentences

Then one day, as I sat down, the seat broke, and my fleshy cheek seemed to have plunged into the abyss.

From Los Angeles Times

The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss.

From Los Angeles Times

Humanity, he warned, was then locked in a downward spiral into a moral abyss reminiscent of a Greek tragedy.

From Salon

Lives are more complicated than what your busted heart may want to read from a voice that conjured heaven and the abyss.

From Los Angeles Times

“Instead …” Luke adds with a snort, as the rest of the sentence slides into the abyss, taking Tim’s ego with it.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• chasm 
• crevasse 
• depth 
• void