[abyss] n [ME abissus, fr. LL abyssus, fr. Gk abyssos, fr. abyssos, adj., bottomless, fr. a- + byssos depth; perh. akin to Gk bathys deep] (14c) 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