abyss

• n. 深淵；深邃，無底洞，地獄

前綴a-, 沒有。詞根byss, 底，詞源同base, 底，低下。

abyss

abyss: [16] English borrowed abyss from late Latin abyssus, which in turn derived from Greek ábussos. This was an adjective meaning ‘bottomless’, from a- ‘not’ and bussós ‘bottom’, a dialectal variant of buthós (which is related to bathys ‘deep’, the source of English bathyscape). In Greek the adjective was used in the phrase ábussos limnē ‘bottomless lake’, but only the adjective was borrowed into Latin, bringing with it the meaning of the noun as well.

In medieval times, a variant form arose in Latin – abysmus. It incorporated the Greek suffix -ismós (English -ism). It is the source of French abîme, and was borrowed into English in the 13th century as abysm (whence the 19th-century derivative abysmal). It began to be ousted by abyss in the 16th century, however, and now has a distinctly archaic air.

abyss (n.)

late 14c., earlier abime (c. 1300, from a form in Old French), from Late Latin abyssus "bottomless pit," from Greek abyssos (limne) "bottomless (pool)," from a- "without" (see a- (2)) + byssos "bottom," possibly related to bathos "depth."

1. The country was on the brink of an abyss.

國家岌岌可危。

來自柯林斯例句

2. Ahead of them was a gaping abyss.

他們麵前是一個巨大的深淵。

來自《權威詞典》

3. The people are plunged into an abyss of misery.

塗炭生靈.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》

4. He is plunging into an abyss of despair.

他陷入了絕望的深淵.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

5. The old society was an abyss of darkness.

舊社會暗無天日.

來自《現代漢英綜合大詞典》