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Abyss vs Nether - What's the difference?

abyss | nether |

As nouns the difference between abyss and nether

is that abyss is hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean while nether is oppression; stress; a withering or stunting influence.

As an adjective nether is

lower; under.

As an adverb nether is

down; downward.

As a verb nether is

to bring or thrust down; bring or make low; lower; abase; humble.

abyss

English

Alternative forms

* abysm, abime

Noun

(es)
  • Hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean.
  • (frequently, figurative) A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable; any void space.
  • Anything infinite, immeasurable, or profound.
  • Moral depravity; vast intellectual or moral depth.
  • An impending catastrophic happening.
  • (heraldry) The center of an escutcheon.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "abyss")

    Usage notes

    * (impending catastrophic happening) It is typically preceded by the word the .

    Derived terms

    * abyssal

    Related terms

    * abysmal

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    nether

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) nether, nethere, nithere, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

  • Lower; under.
    • The disappointed child’s nether lip quivered.
  • Lying beneath, or conceived as lying beneath, the Earth’s surface.
    • The nether regions.
  • * 1873 , Mark Twain, The Gilded Age , page187:
    • When one thinks of the tremendous forces of the upper and the nether world which play for the mastery of the soul of a woman during the few years in which she passes from plastic girlhood to the ripe maturity of womanhood,
    Synonyms
    * (lower) bottom, lower * (sense, beneath the Earth's surface) subsurface, subterranean
    Derived terms
    * netherdom * nether region * Netherlands * nethermore * nethermost * netherness * netherty * netherward * netherworld

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Down; downward.
  • Low; low down.

    • Etymology 2

    Alteration of earlier nither, from (etyl) nitheren, from (etyl) . See above.

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bring or thrust down; bring or make low; lower; abase; humble.
  • To constrict; straiten; confine; restrict; suppress; lay low; keep under; press in upon; vex; harass; oppress.
  • To pinch or stunt with cold or hunger; check in growth; shrivel; straiten.
  • To shrink or huddle, as with cold; be shivery; tremble.
  • To depreciate; disparage; undervalue.
    • Derived terms
    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Oppression; stress; a withering or stunting influence.
  • (mining) A trouble; a fault or dislocation in a seam of coal.

    • Anagrams

    *