abisso

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See also: Abisso and abissò

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aˈbis.so/
  • Rhymes: -isso
  • Hyphenation: a‧bìs‧so

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin abyssus, from Ancient Greek ἄβῠσσος (ábussos, bottomless).

Noun

abisso m (plural abissi)

  1. abyss, gulf
    • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto IV”, in Inferno [Hell]‎, lines 23–24; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎, 2nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:
      Così si mise e così mi fé intrare
      nel primo cerchio che l’abisso cigne.
      Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter the foremost circle that surrounds the abyss.
    • 1825, “Libro XXII [Book 22]”, in Vincenzo Monti, transl., Iliade [Iliad], Milan: Giovanni Resnati e Gius. Bernardoni di Gio, translation of Ἰλιάς (Iliás) by Homer, published 1840, page 479, lines 463–466:
      Così detto, spirò. Sciolta dal corpo
      Prese l’alma il suo vol verso l’abisso,
      Lamentando il suo fato ed il perduto
      Fior della forte gioventude. []
      Having said that, he passed. His soul, released from the body, took flight towards the abyss, lamenting its fate and the lost flower of strong youth.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

abisso

  1. first-person singular present indicative of abissare

Further reading

  • abisso in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana