abyss
/əˈbɪs/uh-BIS
/əˈbɪs/uh-BIS
Meaningbottomless
Common meaning: a bottomless depth
- anot, without (Greek ἀ-/ἀν-)Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. · scan
- byssthe depth of the seaLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 158 · scan
‘not, without (Greek ἀ-/ἀν-)’ + ‘the depth of the sea’ → abyss
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek βυσσός ‘the depth of the sea’.
Roots
- βυσσός Greek “the depth of the sea”
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