abyss

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /əˈbɪs/ UK /əˈbɪs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm

He peered over the cliff into the dark abyss below.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a deep or seemingly... chasm gulf void gorge depths pit

Word family

Derived forms abyssalabysmal

Related forms abysm

Etymology

From Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'), from a- (privative 'without') + byssós ('depth, bottom').

abyssus Late Latin ábyssos Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# abyss

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈbɪs/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈbɪs/

## Meanings
1. a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm

## Examples
- He peered over the cliff into the dark abyss below.

## Synonyms
- chasm
- gulf
- void
- gorge
- depths
- pit

## Derived Forms
- abyssal
- abysmal

## Related Forms
- abysm

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: abyssus
- Root: ábyssos

## Etymology
From Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'), from a- (privative 'without') + byssós ('depth, bottom').

## AI Etymology
abyss comes from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ábyssos ('bottomless'), from a- (privative 'without') + byssós ('depth, bottom'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as abysm and derivatives such as abyssal, abysmal, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Late Latin abyssus, Ancient Greek ábyssos, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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