Bythos
/ˈbɪθɒs/noun
A term from ancient Gnostic and philosophical Greek meaning “depth” or “the deep.”
Did you know?In some Gnostic systems, Bythos was not just a word for depth but the name of the primal, unknowable divine abyss from which reality unfolds.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰudʰ-
“to be deep, bottom, or ground”
Ancient Greek
Gk
βυθός (bythós)
“depth, the deep place, the bottom of the sea”
Hellenistic Greek
Gk
Βυθός (Bythós)
“the Deep as a divine or cosmological principle in some Gnostic traditions”
Late Antiquity
Gk
Bythos
“a personified abyss or primal depth in Gnostic cosmology”
Modern English
English
bythos
“a scholarly transliteration of the Greek term, used in discussions of Gnosticism”