abyssus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin abyssus.

Noun

abyssus

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of abyss

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Latin

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ἄβῠσσος (ábussos, “bottomless pit”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aˈbys.sus/, [äˈbʏs̠ːʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈbis.sus/, [äˈbisːus]

Noun

abyssus f (genitive abyssī); second declension

1. (Late Latin) an abyss
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Genesis.1.2:

     terra autem erat inanis et vacua et tenebrae super faciem abyssi et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.

     And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

   • Abyssus abyssum invocat. :

     The abyss calls the abyss.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	abyssus	abyssī
Genitive	abyssī	abyssōrum
Dative	abyssō	abyssīs
Accusative	abyssum	abyssōs
Ablative	abyssō	abyssīs
Vocative	abysse	abyssī

Descendants

• English: abyss
• French: abîme, abysse
• Irish: aibhéis
• Italian: abisso
• Old Galician-Portuguese: avisso
• Portuguese: abismo
• Spanish: abismo

References

• “abyssus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• abyssus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)