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单词 fathom
释义

fathom

See also: faþom

English

WOTD – 25 June 2022

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfað(ə)m/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfæðəm/
  • (dialectal, obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈfædəm/[1]
  • Audio (GA)(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],[2] 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”).[3]

Sense 1 (“unit for water depth”) is derived from sense 3.1 (“act of stretching out one’s arms away from the sides of the torso”).

cognates
  • Ancient Greek πέταλος (pétalos, “broad; flat”), πετᾰ́ννῡμῐ (petánnūmi, “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)

  1. (chiefly nautical, historical) Originally, the distance between an adult man's arms stretched out away from the sides of his torso so that they make a straight line perpendicular to his body, measured from the tips of the longest fingers of each hand, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres); subsequently used as a unit for water depth but now generally replaced by the metre.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 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 606515358, [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
    • 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.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. (chiefly in the plural) An unspecified depth.
    2. (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 724111485, [Act I, scene i]:
        Another of his fathome they haue not / To leade their buſineſſe, […]
  3. (obsolete)
    1. 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.
    2. Someone or something that is embraced.
      • 1601 (first performance), Thomas Dekker, Satiro-mastix. Or The Vntrussing of the Humorous Poet. […], London: […] [Edward Allde] for Edward White, […], published 1602, OCLC 837266771, 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.
    3. (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 60757325, 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 3083972, 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 1,000 fathoms offshore is not 6,000 feet from the shore, but rather at the nearest point to shore where the water depth is 6,000 feet.

Synonyms
  • (unit of length): stade; toise (some contexts); brace (some contexts); braza, estadio (Spanish contexts); orguia (Greek contexts)
Derived terms
  • fathometer
Translations
distance between an adult man’s arms stretched out away from the sides of his torso; unit of length for water depth equivalent to six feet (about 1.8 m) — See also translations at brace,‎ toise
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],[4] from Old English fæðmian, from Proto-Germanic *faþmōjan, from *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”):[5] see further at etymology 1.

cognates
  • 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)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (also figuratively) To measure the depth of (water); to take a sounding of; to sound.
    2. (archaic or obsolete) To encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; specifically, to measure the circumference or (rare) length of something.
    3. (figuratively) 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.
    4. (obsolete) To embrace (someone or something).
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To measure a depth; to sound.
    2. (figuratively) To conduct an examination or inquiry; to investigate.
Derived terms
  • fathomable
  • fathomer
  • fathoming (noun)
  • fathomless
  • fathomlessly
  • unfathomable
Translations
to measure the depth of (water) — See also translations at sound
to measure a depth — See also translations at sound
to conduct an examination or inquiry — see investigate

References

  1. 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 671561968, page 75.
  2. “fadme, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. “fathom, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “fathom, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. “fadmen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. “fathom, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: 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
  • fathom in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • fathom at OneLook Dictionary Search
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