Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Abyss
A-byss′
,Noun.
[L.
abyssus
a bottomless gulf, fr. Gr. [GREEK] bottomless; ἀ
priv. + [GREEK] depth, bottom.] 1.
A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable, and, specifically, hell, or the bottomless pit.
Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost
abyss
. Milton.
The throne is darkness, in the
abyss
of light. Dryden.
2.
Infinite time; a vast intellectual or moral depth.
The
abysses
of metaphysical theology. Macaulay.
In unfathomable
abysses
of disgrace. Burke.
3.
(Her.)
The center of an escutcheon.
☞ This word, in its leading uses, is associated with the cosmological notions of the Hebrews, having reference to a supposed illimitable mass of waters from which our earth sprung, and beneath whose profound depths the wicked were punished.
Encyc. Brit.
Webster 1828 Edition
Abyss
ABYSS'
,Noun.
1.
A bottomless gulf; used also for a deep mass of waters, supposed by some to have encompassed the earth before the flood.Darkness was upon the face of the deep, or abyss, as it is in the Septuagint. Gen. i. 2.
The word is also used for an immense cavern in the earth, in which God is supposed to have collected all the waters on the third day of the creation. It is used also for hell, Erebus.
2.
That which is immeasurable; that in which any thing is lost.Thy throne is darkness, in the abyss of light.
The abyss of time.
3.
In antiquity, the temple of Proserpine, so called from the immense treasures it was supposed to contain.4.
In heraldry, the center of an escutcheon.He bears azure, a fleur de lis, in abyss.