abysm
/əˈbɪzəm/ noun
Also a form of abyss
Forms abysms abime abyme
- noun (archaic, poetic) Hell; the infernal pit; the great deep; the primal chaos.
- noun (now chiefly literary) An abyss; a gulf, a chasm, a very deep hole.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English abime, from Old French abisme from Late Latin *abyssimus, a superlative of abyssus (“bottomless pit”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos). Cognate to French abîme. See also abyss.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OF. abisme; F. abime, LL. abyssimus, a superl. of L. abyssus; Gr. Abyss.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “abysm”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details