different between abysm vs indexphp

English

Etymology

From Middle English abime, from Old French abisme from Late Latin *abyssimus, a superlative of abyssus (“bottomless pit”), from Ancient Greek ??????? (ábussos). Cognate to French abîme. See also abyss.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?z.m?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??b?z.m?/
• Rhymes: -?z?m

Noun

abysm (plural abysms)

1. (archaic, poetic) Hell; the infernal pit; the great deep; the primal chaos. [from between 1150 and 1350]
2. (now chiefly literary) An abyss; a gulf, a chasm, a very deep hole. [from late 15th century]
   • 1623, Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, III, xiii:

     The abysm of hell.

   • 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, “The Grotto”

     Dr. Prunesquallor had circled around Steerpike with his head drawn back so that his cervical vertebrae rested against the near wall of his high collar, and a plumbless abysm yawned between his Adam’s apple and his pearl stud.

Alternative forms

• abime, abyme

Translations

References

• abysm in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Byams