An Abyss Is Literally Bottomless
An abyss is a deep chasm. The Greek word means without a bottom, and it named the deep before it named any particular hole.
An abyss is a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm. The Greek *abyssos* is built from *a-*, without, and *byssos*, bottom — so an abyss is precisely a bottomless place, and calling one bottomless is a small redundancy. Oceanographers borrowed it for the *abyssal zone*, the deep sea between about three and six thousand metres down.
- A deep chasm. *The edge of the abyss.*
- A catastrophic situation. *On the brink of the abyss.*
- Abyssal — of the deep ocean. *The abyssal plain.*
- Abysmal — extremely bad. *Abysmal weather.*
- Stare into the abyss — face something terrible. *He stared into the abyss.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | abyss | A dark abyss. |
| Plural | abysses | Two abysses. |
| Adjective | abyssal | Abyssal depths. |
| Adjective | abysmal | Abysmal service. |
| Greek | abyssos | Bottomless. |
- The path ran along the edge of an abyss.Literal.
- The economy was staring into the abyss.Figurative.
- The abyssal plain covers much of the ocean floor.Oceanography.
Abysmal or abyssal?
- Abysmal — extremely bad, the everyday word
- Abyssal — belonging to the ocean deep, a technical term
- Both come from abyss, by different routes
- Abysmal developed its critical sense in the nineteenth century
- A common slip — writing abyssal when you mean terrible
Late Latin *abyssus*, from Greek *abyssos*, bottomless, from *a-*, without, and *byssos*, depth or bottom. English took it in the 1300s.
What is the abyssal zone?
The deep ocean layer, roughly three to six thousand metres down, where no sunlight reaches and the water is near freezing.
What is the difference between abysmal and abyssal?
Abysmal means very bad. Abyssal describes the deep sea. Both come from abyss.