Standard Lemma guide

chasma

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkazmə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈkæzmə/
  • rhymes with -æzmə

1

noun

Meaning 1

A long, narrow, steep-sided depression on a planet (often other than Earth), a moon, or another body in the Solar System.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An aurora.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, rare

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Obsolete form of chasm.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

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)). Doublet of chasm. 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.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • French: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Galician: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • German: Chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Indonesian: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Italian: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Japanese: カズマ地形 — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Luxembourgish: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Norwegian Bokmål: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression
  • Portuguese: chasma — long, narrow, steep-sided depression