abîme

See also: abime, abimé, and abîmé

French

Alternative forms

• abime (post-1990 spelling)
• abyme (archaic)
• abisme, abysme, abŷme (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Old French abisme, from a Late Latin *abīsmus (or similar; compare Spanish, Portuguese abismo), a formally unclear alteration of Latin abyssus (“bottomless pit”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos). Doublet of abysse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.bim/

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Noun

abîme m (plural abîmes) (traditional spelling)

1. abyss, chasm
2. bottom of a chasm or valley
3. (literary) infiniteness of thought
4. (literary) superlative used with various abstraction and qualities; the climax or acme
5. (literary) hell
6. (heraldry) abyss of a shield, fess point

Usage notes

• Often used as if it were a plurale tantum.

Derived terms

• abîme de science
• abîmer

Further reading

• “abîme”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• amibe, iambe, ïambe