fathom
Syllables: fa·thomUK/ˈfað(ə)m//ˈfæðəm/
fathom noun: 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.
Noun
fathom (plural fathoms)
- 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.
- [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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:27–28, column 2
- 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, & strange1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- 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.
- At fifty fathoms, the waters of the Southern Ocean are dark blue.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
- An unspecified depth.
- Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
- Another of his fathome they haue not / To leade their buſineſſe, […]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...
- 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.
- 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.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
- Control, grasp.
- So; novv knovv I vvhere I am, me thinkes already / I graſpe beſt part of the Autumnian bleſſing / In my contentious fadome, […]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
- 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: […]1622 May 24 (licensing date; Gregorian calendar), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Prophetesse”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […]...
Verb
fathom (third-person singular simple present fathoms, present participle fathoming, simple past and past participle fathomed)
- To measure the depth of (water); to take a sounding of; to sound.
- It is very steep, and on its summit is a lake of dark water, so deep that it cannot be fathomed.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 457
- To encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; specifically, to measure the circumference or (rare) length of something.
- Often followed by out: to deeply understand (someone or something); to get to the bottom of.
- I can’t for the life of me fathom what this means.
- 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.2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London)
- Synonyms:
- figure out, puzzle out, work out
- To embrace (someone or something).
- To measure a depth; to sound.
- To conduct an examination or inquiry; to investigate.
fathom meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Telugu
fathom in Hindi
- fathom
- पुरसा pursā
fathom in Tamil
- ஒலிக்கோட்டின் மூலம் ஆழத்தை அள, புரிந்து கொள்
fathom in Bengali
- গভীরতা পরিমাপ করা
fathom in Telugu
- measure of six feet — see also brace, toise
- బార bāra
More languagesFewer languages
- fathom in Malayalam
- ആഴമളക്കുന്ന തോത്, ഒരു മാറ്, ഒരാൾ താഴ്ച, ആൾ വെള്ളം
- fathom in Kannada
- ಮಾರು, ಆಳನೋಡು, ಅರಿ
- fathom in Sanskrit
- व्याम vyāma
- fathom in Tagalog
- dipa, tarok
- fathom in Arabic
- قامة qāma
- fathom in Malay
- depa
- fathom in Indonesian
- depa, depang
- fathom in Persian
- باز bāz, باژ bāž, بازه bāze
- fathom in Thai
- วา waa
Examples of fathom in a sentence
- For much of the Ice Age, men walked dryshod on the bed of the North Sea many fathoms below where ships now sail.
- The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom.
- I can't fathom how it will be to communicate with no one but myself.
Synonyms of fathom
- stade
- toise
- brace
- braza
- estadio
- orguia
- figure out
- puzzle out
- work out
Forms of fathom
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | fathoms |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | fathoms |
| present participle | fathoming |
| past participle | fathomed |
| past | fathomed |
Origin of fathom
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], 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”). Cognates * Ancient Greek πέταλος (pétalos, “broad; flat”), πετᾰ́ννῡμῐ (petắnnūmĭ, “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...
Words formed from fathom
Questions about fathom
- What does fathom mean?
- Fathom means 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.
- What is fathom in Hindi?
- Fathom in Hindi is पुरसा (pursā). See Fathom meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is fathom?
- Fathom can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce fathom?
- Fathom is pronounced /ˈfað(ə)m/ (UK).
- What is the plural of fathom?
- The plural of fathom is fathoms.
Words near fathom in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fathom (page history and authors); पुरसा (Hindi) (page history and authors); fathom (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Fathom (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fathom (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fathom (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-fathom.ogg.
Cite this entry: “fathom.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fathom. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.