abîme
French
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editInherited from Old French abisme, inherited from Late Latin *abyssimus, a superlative of Latin abyssus (“bottomless pit”), from Ancient Greek ἄβυσσος (ábussos). Compare Spanish, Portuguese abismo. Doublet of abysse.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editabîme m (plural abîmes) (traditional spelling)
- abyss, chasm
- bottom of a chasm or valley
- (literary) infiniteness of thought
- (literary) superlative used with various abstraction and qualities; the climax or acme
- (literary) hell
- (heraldry) abyss of a shield, fess point
Usage notes
edit- Often used as if it was a pluralia tantum.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editFurther reading
edit- “abîme”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
editCategories:
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Late Latin
- French terms derived from Late Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms derived from Ancient Greek
- French doublets
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French literary terms
- fr:Heraldry
- fr:Afterlife
- fr:Landforms