But nought that wanteth rest can long aby.
Spenser.
A*bysm" (&?;), n. [OF. abisme; F. abime, LL. abyssimus, a superl. of L. abyssus; Gr. &?;. See Abyss.] An abyss; a gulf. "The abysm of hell." Shak.
A*bys"mal (&?;), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, an abyss; bottomless; unending; profound.
Geology gives one the same abysmal extent of time that astronomy does of space.
Carlyle.
A*bys"mal*ly, adv. To a fathomless depth; profoundly. "Abysmally ignorant." G. Eliot.
A*byss" (&?;), n. [L. abyssus a bottomless gulf, fr. Gr. &?; bottomless; 'a priv. + &?; 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.