Aby
(A*by", A*bye") v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Abought ] [AS. abycgan to pay for; pref. a- (cf. Goth.
us- , Ger. er-, orig. meaning out) + bycgan to buy. See Buy, and cf. Abide.]
1. To pay for; to suffer for; to atone for; to make amends for; to give satisfaction. [Obs.]
Lest to thy peril thou aby it dear.
Shak.
2. To endure; to abide. [Obs.]
But nought that wanteth rest can long aby.
Spenser.
Abysm
(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.
Abysmal
(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.
Abysmally
(A*bys"mal*ly), adv. To a fathomless depth; profoundly. "Abysmally ignorant." G. Eliot.
Abyss
(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.
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.
Abyssal
(A*byss"al) a. [Cf. Abysmal.] Belonging to, or resembling, an abyss; unfathomable.
Abyssal zone (Phys. Geog.), one of the belts or zones into which Sir E. Forbes divides the bottom of
the sea in describing its plants, animals, etc. It is the one furthest from the shore, embracing all beyond
one hundred fathoms deep. Hence, abyssal animals, plants, etc.
Abyssinian
(Ab`ys*sin"i*an) a. Of or pertaining to Abyssinia.
Abyssinian gold, an alloy of 90.74 parts of copper and 8.33 parts of zink. Ure.
Abyssinian
(Ab`ys*sin"i*an), n.
1. A native of Abyssinia.
2. A member of the Abyssinian Church.
