(Τάβορος). The Greek word means literally 'without bottom,' but actually, deep, profound. It is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew term יָם הַתְּהוֹם, which we find applied either to the ocean or to the under world. In the New Testament it is used as a noun to describe Hades, or the place of the dead generally, but more especially that part of Hades in which the souls of the wicked were supposed to be confined.

Most of these uses of the word are explained by reference to some of the cosmological notions which the Hebrews entertained in common with other Eastern nations. It was believed that the abyss, or sea of fathomless waters, encompassed the whole earth. The earth floated on the abyss, of which it covered only a small part. According to the same notion, the earth was founded upon the waters, or, at least, had its foundations in the abyss beneath. Under these waters, and at the bottom of the abyss, the wicked were represented as groaning, and undergoing the punishment of their sins.

The notion of such an abyss was by no means confined to the East. It was equally entertained by the Celtic Druids, who held that Annwn (the deep, the low port), the abyss from which the earth arose, was the abode of the evil principle (Gwraithswyn), and the place of departed spirits, comprehending both the Elysium and the Tartarus of antiquity. With them also wandering spirits were called Plant annwn, "the children of the deep." (Davis's Celtic Researches, p.175; Myth, and Rites of the B. Druids, p.49).

Annws is also used in Heraldry to denote the centre of an escutcheon. In which sense a thing is said to be borne in abyss, en abyse, when placed in the middle of the shield, clear from any other bearing: He bears azure, a fleur-de-lis, in abyss.