n.
Pronunciation: ə - ' bis, a- also ' a-( ˌ )bis
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English abissus, from Late Latin abyssus, from Greek abyssos, from abyssos, adjective, bottomless, from a- + byssos depth; perhaps akin to Greek bathys deep
Date: 14th century
1 : the bottomless gulf, pit, or chaos of the old cosmogonies
2 a : an immeasurably deep gulf or great space b : intellectual or moral depths