資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Zone \Zone\ (z[=o]n), n. [F. zone, L. zona, Gr. zw`nh; akin to
   zwnny`nai to gird, Lith. j[*u]sta a girdle, j[*u]sti to gird,
   Zend y[=a]h.]
   1. A girdle; a cincture. [Poetic]

            An embroidered zone surrounds her waist. --Dryden.

            Loose were her tresses seen, her zone unbound.
                                                  --Collins.

   2. (Geog.) One of the five great divisions of the earth, with
      respect to latitude and temperature.

   Note: The zones are five: the torrid zone, extending from
         tropic to tropic 46[deg] 56[min], or 23[deg] 28[min] on
         each side of the equator; two temperate or variable
         zones, situated between the tropics and the polar
         circles; and two frigid zones, situated between the
         polar circles and the poles.

               Commerce . . . defies every wind, outrides every
               tempest, and invades.              --Bancroft.

   3. (Math.) The portion of the surface of a sphere included
      between two parallel planes; the portion of a surface of
      revolution included between two planes perpendicular to
      the axis. --Davies & Peck (Math. Dict.)

   4. (Nat. Hist.)
      (a) A band or stripe extending around a body.
      (b) A band or area of growth encircling anything; as, a
          zone of evergreens on a mountain; the zone of animal
          or vegetable life in the ocean around an island or a
          continent; the Alpine zone, that part of mountains
          which is above the limit of tree growth.

   5. (Crystallog.) A series of planes having mutually parallel
      intersections.

   6. Circuit; circumference. [R.] --Milton.

   {Abyssal zone}. (Phys. Geog.) See under {Abyssal}.

   {Zone axis} (Crystallog.), a straight line passing through
      the center of a crystal, to which all the planes of a
      given zone are parallel.

Abyssal \A*byss"al\, a. [Cf. {Abysmal}.]
   Belonging to, or resembling, an abyss; unfathomable.

   {Abyssal zone} (Phys. Geog.), one of the belts or zones into
      which Sir E. Forbes divides the bottom of the sea in
      describing its plants, animals, etc. It is the one
      furthest from the shore, embracing all beyond one hundred
      fathoms deep. Hence, abyssal animals, plants, etc.

資料來源 : WordNet®

abyssal zone
     n : the deep sea (2000 meters or more) where there is no light