abyssal

[ uh-bis-uhl ]
See synonyms for abyssal on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or like an abyss; immeasurable; unfathomable.

  2. Oceanography. of or relating to the biogeographic zone of the ocean bottom between the bathyal and hadal zones: from depths of approximately 13,000 to 21,000 feet (4,000 to 6,500 meters).

Origin of abyssal

1
First recorded in 1600–10; from Medieval Latin abyssālis, see origin at abyss, -al1

Words Nearby abyssal

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How to use abyssal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for abyssal

abyssal

/ (əˈbɪsəl) /


adjective
  1. of or belonging to the ocean depths, esp below 2000 metres (6500 feet): abyssal zone

  2. geology another word for plutonic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for abyssal

abyssal

[ ə-bĭsəl ]


  1. Relating to the greatest depths of the oceans and to the organisms that live there. The abyssal zone encompasses all depths below 4,000 m (13,120 ft).

  2. Relating to the region of the ocean bottom between the bathyal and hadal zones, from depths of approximately 2,000 to 6,000 m (6,560 to 19,680 ft). The abyssal zone includes nearly two-thirds of the Earth's surface.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.