köken: Borrowed from Late Latin *abyssimus, from Latin abyssus (“a bottomless gulf”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos, “bottomless”), ἀ- (a-, “not”) + βυσσός (bussós, “depth”). Displaced Old Galician-Portuguese avisso.
deep sea · the part of the ocean below approximately 200 meters · The former Japanese name of the seaport of Prigorodnoye on the island of Sakhalin, Russia
shaft (vertical or inclined passage, e.g. of a mine or an elevator) · pitch (vertical cave passage) · chasm, ravine, abyss (deep, steep-sided rift, gap or fissure)
köken: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Hellenic *ə- Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb-der. Ancient Greek βυθός (buthós) Ancient Greek ἄβῠσσος (ábŭssos)bor. Latin abyssus Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄβῠσσος (ábŭssos, “bottomless pit”).
aile: *abīsmus
Abyssus abyssum invocat.
Terra autem erat inānis et vacua, et tenebrae erant super faciem abyssī et spīritus Deī ferēbātur super aquās.
köken: From Middle Low German afgrunt, afgrunde. Compare Dutch afgrond, German Abgrund, Norwegian Nynorsk avgrunn, Swedish avgrund and Gothic 𐌰𐍆𐌲𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌸𐌰 (afgrundiþa). Equivalent to af- (“off, from”) + grund (“ground”).
Learned borrowing from Latin abyssus, whence also the doublet abîme. Isolated uses can already be found of Middle French abys, Old French abis, but the word did not really enter the language before the 19th century. The adjective abyssal is older, however.