chasm

English

Etymology

From Latin chasma, from Ancient Greek χάσμα (khásma, “abyss, cleft”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæzəm/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (General American, uncommon, spelling pronunciation) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃæzəm/
• Rhymes: -æzəm

Noun

chasm (plural chasms)

1. (geology, planetology) A deep, steep-sided rift, gap or fissure; a gorge or abyss.
   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 1:

     But always and ever there is a yawning chasm below[.]

2. (by extension) A large difference of opinion.
   • 2025 February 10, Phil McNulty, “Manchester City 6-0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Chelsea may not have regarded themselves as title rivals to City over the whole season but this was a harrowing illustration of the current chasm between the two sides and made for disturbing viewing for the Italian.

Alternative forms

• chasma (obsolete)

Derived terms

• chasmal
• chasmatical (rare)
• chasmed
• chasmic
• chasmlike
• chasmophyte
• chasmous
• chasmy

Related terms

• chasma (“long, narrow, steep-sided depression on a body in the solar system”)

Translations

gap

Arabic: فَجْوَة f (fajwa) Bulgarian: пропаст (bg) f (propast), бездна (bg) f (bezdna) Catalan: avenc (ca) m Czech: propast (cs) f Danish: gab (da) n, afgrund c Dutch: kloof (nl) f, afgrond (nl) m Esperanto: fendego (eo) Finnish: kuilu (fi), rotko (fi) French: chasme (fr) f, crevasse (fr) f, fossé (fr) m, gouffre (fr) m German: Abgrund (de) m, Kluft (de) f, Spalte (de) f Greek: χάσμα (el) n (chásma) Ancient: χάσμα n (khásma) Icelandic: gjá (is) f Indonesian: jurang (id) Irish: gáibéal m, anscoilt f, duibheagán m Italian: voragine (it) f, baratro (it) m, abisso (it) m Japanese: 渓壑 (けいがく, keigaku) Javanese: jurang (jv), curah Latin: chasma n, barāthrum n Maori: tawhā Old English: clēafa m Ottoman Turkish: بوغاز (boğaz), دره (dere) (gorge); دریڭلك (deriñlik) (abyss) Plautdietsch: Kjäajel m Polish: przepaść (pl) f, otchłań (pl) f, wyrwa (pl) f Portuguese: abismo (pt) m Russian: бе́здна (ru) f (bézdna), про́пасть (ru) f (própastʹ), рассе́лина (ru) f (rassélina), расще́лина (ru) f (rasščélina) Sanskrit: पर्शान (sa) m (parśāna) Serbo-Croatian: provalija (sh) f Slovak: roklina f, rokľa (sk) f, prepadlisko n, priepasť f Spanish: garganta (es) f, cañón (es) m, barranco (es) m, barranca f, sima (es) f, abismo (es) m Swedish: svalg (sv) n Telugu: అగాధం (te) (agādhaṁ) Turkish: derin yarık (tr), kanyon (tr), uçurum (tr) Ukrainian: прі́рва f (prírva), безо́дня (uk) f (bezódnja)

difference of opinion

Arabic: فَجْوَة f (fajwa) Czech: rozkol m, nesoulad m Dutch: kloof (nl) f, meningsverschil (nl) n Finnish: kuilu (fi) French: fossé (fr) m, divergence (fr) f German: Kluft (de) f Greek: χάσμα (el) n (chásma), ρήγμα (el) n (rígma), σχίσμα (el) n (schísma), διάσπαση (el) f (diáspasi) Irish: deighilt f, scaradh m, briseadh (idir beirt) m Italian: divergenza (it) f, divario (it) m Portuguese: abismo (pt) m, cisma (pt) m Russian: разногла́сия (ru) n pl (raznoglásija), раско́л (ru) m (raskól) Spanish: disensión (es) f Swedish: klyfta (sv), schism (sv) Telugu: అగాధం (te) (agādhaṁ) Turkish: uçurum (tr)

References

• chasm (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• rift on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• CAMHS, HMACs, cha'ms, chams