fathom
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English fathome, fadome, from Old English fæþm, fæþme (“outstretched or encircling arms, embrace, grasp, protection, interior, bosom, lap, breast, womb, fathom, cubit, power, expanse, surface”), from Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“embrace”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to spread out, extend”). Cognate with Low German fadem, faem (“a cubit, thread”), Dutch vadem, vaam (“fathom”), German Faden (“thread, filament, fathom”), Danish favn (“embrace, fathom”), Swedish famn (“the arms, bosom, embrace”), Icelandic faðmur (“embrace”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
fathom (plural fathoms)
- (obsolete) Grasp, envelopment, control.
- (nautical) A measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms, standardised to six feet, now used mainly for measuring depths in seas or oceans.
- (by extension) Mental reach or scope; penetration; the extent of capacity; depth of thought or contrivance.
- Shakespeare
- Another of his fathom they have none / To lead their business (Othello, I.i. 151-2).
- Shakespeare
Synonyms[edit]
- (measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms): brace
Translations[edit]
measure of length
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Verb[edit]
fathom (third-person singular simple present fathoms, present participle fathoming, simple past and past participle fathomed)
- (transitive, archaic) To encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to embrace.
- (transitive) To measure the depth of, take a sounding of.
- (transitive, figuratively) To get to the bottom of; to manage to comprehend (a problem etc.).
- I can't for the life of me fathom what this means.
Synonyms[edit]
Translations[edit]
(transitive, archaic) to encircle with outstretched arms
(transitive) to measure the depth of, take a sounding of
(transitive, figuratively) to manage to comprehend
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Related terms[edit]
External links[edit]
- fathom in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- fathom in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- fathom at OneLook Dictionary Search
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with audio links
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Nautical
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English archaic terms
- en:Units of measure
