fathom

Meaning

Noun

1. 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.
2. A measure of distance to shore: the nearest point to shore at which the water depth is the value quoted.
3. An unspecified depth.
4. Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
5. (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.
6. (obsolete) Someone or something that is embraced.
7. (obsolete) Control, grasp.

Verb

1. To measure the depth of (water); to take a sounding of; to sound.
2. To encircle (someone or something) with outstretched arms; specifically, to measure the circumference or (rare) length of something.
3. Often followed by out: to deeply understand (someone or something); to get to the bottom of.
4. (obsolete) To embrace (someone or something).
5. To measure a depth; to sound.
6. To conduct an examination or inquiry; to investigate.

Synonyms

sound

🔉

span

fthm

penetrate

understand

gauge

plumb

determine

arm span

comprehend

grasp

beautiful

probe

decipher

bottom

six feet

see

👀

mark

measure

find out

get

get to know

infer

inquire into

interpret

investigate

involve

isobath

lap

make out

nail

penetration

predict

process

profound

puzzle out

ravel out

recognize

recondite

report

resolve

see through

settle

smooth out

sober

solve

sort

sounding

spell out

straighten out

survey

test

trace

unfathomable

unsnarl

untwine

unweave

measure of length

negociate

puzzle over

ask around

reading another’s thoughts

see through another’s thoughts

have a sharp eye

research

depth curve

to fathom out

unit of length

adjust

get to the bottom

at arm’s length

canvas

catch

catch on

clean up

clear

clear up

comprise

consult

cord

cover

decode

deduce

disentangle

embrace

embracement

estimate

explicate

Hyphenated as

fa‧thom

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfað(ə)m/

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 (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”)