chasma

Meaning

1. A long, narrow, steep-sided depression on a planet (often other than Earth), a moon, or another body in the Solar System.
2. (obsolete, rare) An aurora.
3. (alt-of, obsolete) Obsolete form of chasm.

Synonyms

gape

yawn

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkazmə/

Etymology

From Latin chasma, from Ancient Greek χάσμα (khásma, “abyss, cleft”), from Ancient Greek χᾰ́σκω (khắskō, “to gape, yawn”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰan-, *gʰan- (“to gape, yawn”) + -σκω (-skō, inchoative suffix forming a present-tense word), from Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti (suffix forming a durative or iterative imperfective verb); or from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁y- (“to gape, yawn”)) + Ancient Greek -μᾰ (-mă, suffix forming a noun denoting the result of an action) (from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ (suffix forming an action or result noun)).
The obsolete “aurora” sense is from the fact that aurorae were thought to be rifts in the sky from which light shone through: see the 1822 quotation.