In biblical literature, abyss refers to a bottomless pit, to the underworld, to the deepest ocean floor, or to hell. The English word "abyss" derives from the late Latin abyssimus (superlative of abyssus) through French abisme (abîme in modern French), hence the poetic form "abysm", with examples dating to 1616 and earlier to rhyme with "time". The Latin word is borrowed from the Greek abussos (also transliterated as abyssos), which is conventionally analyzed as deriving from the Greek element meaning "deep, bottom" with an alpha privative, hence "bottomless."