fathom
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfað(ə)m/
ipa: /ˈfæðəm/
ipa: /ˈfædəm/
Forms: form: fathoms
Etymology: 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”)
Senses: examples: text: [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.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 27:27–28, column 2:
text: 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
ref: 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:
topics: nautical
transport
related: word: fm
glosses: 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.
topics: nautical
transport
related: word: fm
word: mul:fm
glosses: 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.
An internationally standardized version of this unit, the international fathom (= 1.8288 metres = 6 feet).
examples: text: After we'd rowed for an hour, we found ourselves stranded ten fathoms from shore.
text: At fifty fathoms, the waters of the Southern Ocean are dark blue.
ref: 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:
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: A measure of distance to shore: the nearest point to shore at which the water depth is the value quoted.
glosses: An unspecified depth.
examples: text: Another of his fathome they haue not / To leade their buſineſſe, […]
ref: 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]:
glosses: Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: Someone or something that is embraced.
examples: text: So; novv knovv I vvhere I am, me thinkes already / I graſpe beſt part of the Autumnian bleſſing / In my contentious fadome, […]
ref: 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:
text: 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: […]
ref: 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:
glosses: Control, grasp.
Synonyms: sense: unit of length
word: stade
sense: unit of length
english: some contexts
translation: some contexts
word: toise
sense: unit of length
english: some contexts
translation: some contexts
word: brace
sense: unit of length
word: braza
sense: unit of length
english: Spanish contexts
translation: Spanish contexts
word: estadio
sense: unit of length
english: Greek contexts
translation: Greek contexts
word: orguia
Derived terms: fathomage
fathometer
fathomly
Related terms: deep six