abisso

See also: Abisso and abissò

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbis.so/
• Rhymes: -isso
• Hyphenation: a‧bìs‧so

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ἄβῠσσος (ábŭssos, “bottomless”).

Noun

abisso m (plural abissi)

1. abyss, gulf
   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto IV”, in Inferno [Hell], lines 23–24; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Così si mise e così mi fé intrare
     nel primo cerchio che l’abisso cigne.

     Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter the foremost circle that surrounds the abyss.

   • 1825, “Libro XXII [Book 22]”, in Vincenzo Monti, transl., Iliade [Iliad], Milan: Giovanni Resnati e Gius. Bernardoni di Gio, translation of Ἰλιάς (Iliás) by Homer, published 1840, page 479, lines 463–466:

     Così detto, spirò. Sciolta dal corpo
     Prese l’alma il suo vol verso l’abisso,
     Lamentando il suo fato ed il perduto
     Fior della forte gioventude. […]

     Having said that, he passed. His soul, released from the body, took flight towards the abyss, lamenting its fate and the lost flower of strong youth.

Derived terms

• abissale
• abissare
• inabissare

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

abisso

1. first-person singular present indicative of abissare

Further reading

• abisso in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana