fathom
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: faþom
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfað(ə)m/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfæðəm/
- (dialectal, obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈfædəm/[1]
Audio (General American): (file) - Hyphenation: fa‧thom
Etymology 1
From Middle English fathome, fadom, fadme (“unit of length of about six feet; depth of six feet for nautical soundings; (loosely) cubit; ell”) [and other forms],[2] from Old English fæþm, fæþme (“encircling or outstretched arms, bosom, embrace; envelopment; control, grasp, power; fathom (unit of measurement); cubit”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet-, *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”).[3]
cognates
- Ancient Greek πέταλος (pétalos, “broad; flat”), πετᾰ́ννῡμῐ (petánnūmi, “to open; to spread out; to be dispersed or scattered”) (whence English petal)
- Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌸𐌰 (faþa, “fench; hedge”)
- Latin pateō (“to extend, increase; to be accessible, attainable, open; to be exposed, vulnerable”)
- Low German fadem, faem (“cubit; thread”)
- Middle Dutch vadem (modern Dutch vaam, vadem (“fathom”))
- Norwegian Bokmål favn (“an embrace; a fathom”)
- Old Frisian fethm (“outstretched arms”)
- Old High German fadam, fadum (“cubit”) (Middle High German vade (“enclosure”), vadem, vaden, modern German Faden (“fathom; filament, thread”))
- Old Norse faþmr (Danish favn (“an embrace; a fathom”), Icelandic faðmur (“an embrace”), Swedish famn (“the arms, bosom; an embrace”))
- Old Welsh etem (“thread”)
Noun
fathom (plural fathoms)
- (chiefly nautical, historical, US) A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:27–28, column 2:
- [T]he ſhipmen deemed that they drew neere to ſome countrey: And ſounded, and found it twentie fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they ſounded againe, and found it fifteene fathoms.
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 5, column 1:
- Full fadom fiue thy Father lies,
Of his bones are Corrall made:
Those are pearles that were his eies,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a Sea-change
Into someting rich, & strange
- (nautical, US) A measure of distance to shore: the nearest point to shore at which the water depth is the value quoted.
- After we'd rowed for an hour, we found ourselves stranded ten fathoms from shore.
- 1983, Richard Ellis, “The Predators”, in The Book of Sharks, 1st paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1989, →ISBN, page 7:
- At fifty fathoms, the waters of the Southern Ocean are dark blue.
- (figuratively)
- (chiefly in the plural) An unspecified depth.
- (archaic or obsolete) Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
- Another of his fathome they haue not / To leade their buſineſſe, […]
- (obsolete)
- The act of stretching out one's arms away from the sides of the torso so that they make a straight line perpendicular to the body.
- Someone or something that is embraced.
- 1601 (first performance), Thomas Dekker, Satiro-mastix. Or The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Edward White, […], published 1602, →OCLC, signature E, verso:
- Thy Bride, thy choice, thy vvife, / She that is novv thy fadom, […] Kneele at thy feete, obay in euerie thing, / So euerie Father is a priuate King.
- (figuratively) Control, grasp.
- 1604 (first performance), [Thomas Middleton], “Inductio”, in Michaelmas Terme. […], London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Edward Allde] for A[rthur] I[ohnson] […], published 1607, →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
- So; novv knovv I vvhere I am, me thinkes already / I graſpe beſt part of the Autumnian bleſſing / In my contentious fadome, […]
- 1622 May 24 (licensing date), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Prophetesse”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 29:
- Yes: / you have blovvne his ſvvolne pride to that vaſtnes, / as he beleeves the earth is in his fadom, / this makes him qute forget his humble Being: […]
Usage notes
- At sea, the fathom is exclusively a measure of water depth. Therefore, a boat that is 100 fathoms offshore is not 600 feet from the shore, but rather at the nearest point to shore where the water depth is 600 feet.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
|
unspecified depth
depth of insight, mental reach or scope
|
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English fathmen, fadmen (“to encircle (something) with the arms, embrace; to feel, grope; to measure by the ell (or perhaps the fathom)”) [and other forms],[4] from Old English fæðmian, from Proto-Germanic *faþmōjan, from *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”):[5] see further at etymology 1.
cognates
- Old High German fademōn
- Old Norse faþma (Danish favne (“to embrace”), Icelandic to embrace, hug; to cuddle, Swedish famna)
Verb
fathom (third-person singular simple present fathoms, present participle fathoming, simple past and past participle fathomed)
- (transitive)
- (also figurative) To measure the depth of (water); to take a sounding of; to sound.
- (archaic or obsolete) To encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; specifically, to measure the circumference or (rare) length of something.
- (figurative) Often followed by out: to deeply understand (someone or something); to get to the bottom of.
- Synonyms: figure out, puzzle out, work out
- Coordinate term: grok
- I can’t for the life of me fathom what this means.
- 2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London):
- Otamendi’s selection ahead of Vincent Kompany was difficult to fathom and, apart from Fernandinho, City’s line-up was otherwise filled with attacking players.
- (obsolete) To embrace (someone or something).
- (intransitive)
- To measure a depth; to sound.
- (figurative) To conduct an examination or inquiry; to investigate.
Derived terms
Translations
to measure the depth of (water) — see also sound
|
to encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; to measure the circumference or length of something
|
to deeply understand (someone or something)
|
to conduct an examination or inquiry — see investigate
References
- Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book […] , 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 75.
- “fadme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “fathom, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “fathom, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022. - “fadmen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- “fathom, v.”, in OED Online, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “fathom, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
fathom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - fathom (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “fathom”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “fathom”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “fathom”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
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