fathom
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fathom
- /ˈfað(ə)m/ UK
- /ˈfæðəm/ US
- /ˈfædəm/ dialectal, obsolete
Where it comes from
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 (“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 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.
- An internationally standardized version of this unit, the international fathom (= 1.8288 metres = 6 feet).
- 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.
- An unspecified depth.
- Depth of insight; mental reach or scope. Another of his fathome they haue not / To leade their buſineſſe, […]
- 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.
- Control, grasp. So; novv knovv I vvhere I am, me thinkes already / I graſpe beſt part of the Autumnian bleſſing / In my contentious fadome, […]
verb fathoms · fathoming · 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.
- 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.
Similar: 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.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: penetrate, sound, bottom, fthm, grasp, apprehend, unravel, untangle, measure, comprehend, understand, imagine, isobath, ken, realise, plumb
Translations
Every language
noun measure of six feet — see also brace, toise
| Español | braza |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | ファゾム fazomu, 尋 hiro |
| 中文 | 英寻 yīngxún, 英尋 /英寻 yīngxún |
| Português | braça |
| Français | brasse, toise |
| Deutsch | Faden, Klafter |
| Italiano | braccio |
| Ελληνικά | οργιά orgiá |
| Română | fathom, braț, stânjen marin |
| Русский | фадом fadom, фатом fatom, морская са́жень morskaja sáženʹ |
| العربية | قامة qāma |
| עברית | פַאדוֹם fadom, אַמַּת יָם amat yam |
verb to measure the depth of (water) — see also sound
| Español | sondar, sondear, fondear, hondear, asondar |
|---|---|
| Português | sondar |
| Français | comprendre, saisir, s'imaginer |
| Deutsch | ausloten, loten, sondieren |
| Română | măsura, sonda |
| Русский | де́лать проме́р лотом délatʹ promér lotom, измеря́ть izmerjátʹ |
verb to encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; to measure the circumference or length of something
| Español | abrazar |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | umarmen |
| Română | apuca, îmbrățișa |
| Русский | обхватить obxvatitʹ |
verb to deeply understand (someone or something)
| Español | ahondar, profundizar, sondar, sondear, fondear, hondear |
|---|---|
| Português | compreender |
| Français | comprendre, saisir |
| Deutsch | begreifen, ergründen, verstehen |
| Italiano | capire, comprendere |
| Română | înțelege, pătrunde |
| Русский | иссле́довать isslédovatʹ, осознава́ть osoznavátʹ, понима́ть ponimátʹ, постигать postigatʹ, расследовать rassledovatʹ, разузнавать razuznavatʹ |
Talk about this word "fathom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/fathom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. fathom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/fathom "fathom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/fathom.Cite this
@misc{fathom_2026,
title = {fathom},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/fathom},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
