# fathom
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfað(ə)m/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈfæðəm/
* (dialectal, obsolete) IPA: /ˈfædəm/
* 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], 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”).
* 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

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

* (unit of length): stade; toise (some contexts); brace (some contexts); braza, estadio (Spanish contexts); orguia (Greek contexts)

##### Derived terms

* fathomage
* fathometer
* fathomly

##### See also

* deep six

### 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], from Old English fæðmian, from Proto-Germanic *faþmōjan, from *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”): see further at etymology 1.
* 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

* fathomability
* fathomable
* fathomer
* fathoming (noun)
* fathomless
* fathomlessly
* unfathom
* unfathomability
* unfathomable

##### Translations
### 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: 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: 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.