WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : A*byss"
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. abyssus a bottomless gulf, fr. Gr.
Definition : 1. A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit. Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost abyss. Milton. The throne is darkness, in the abyss of light. Dryden.

2. Infinite time; a vast intellectual or moral depth. The abysses of metaphysical theology. Macaulay. In unfathomable abysses of disgrace. Burke.

3. (Her.)

Defn: The center of an escutcheon.

Note: This word, in its leading uses, is associated with the cosmological notions of the Hebrews, having reference to a supposed illimitable mass of waters from which our earth sprung, and beneath whose profound depths the wicked were punished. Encyc. Brit.


Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913