Bathyal
/ˈbæθ.i.əl/noun
Relating to the part of the ocean between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, roughly 200 to 2,000 meters deep.
Did you know?Its root is Greek bâthos, “depth,” a word that also produced the literary term “bathos,” the sudden fall from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʷet- / *gʷath-
“A reconstructed root associated with sinking or going deep; its exact relationship to Greek bathýs is debated.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
βαθύς (bathýs)
“Deep; profound.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
βάθος (báthos)
“Depth; profundity.”
19th Century
Scientific English
bathyal
“Relating to the deep-sea zone.”
Modern English
English
bathyal
“Of or relating to the ocean’s bathyal zone, below the continental shelf.”
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