Fathom

Definition: Fathom

Fathom

Noun

1. A linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth.

2. (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore.

Verb

1. Come to understand.

2. Measure depths with a sounding line, as of a body of water.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "fathom" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1120. (references)

Bible

Food & Agriculture

Literature

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Synonyms: Fathom

Answer

Explain; (interpret); solve; (unriddle); discover; a; fathom, hunt out; (inquire); satisfy, set at rest, determine.

Depth

Plunge; sound, fathom, plumb, cast the lead, heave the lead, take soundings, make soundings; dig; (excavate).

Discovery

Verb: discover, find, determine, evolve, learn; fix upon; pick up; find out, trace out, make out, hunt out, fish out, worm out, ferret out, root out; fathom; bring out, draw out; educe, elicit, bring to light; dig out, grub up, fish up; unearth, disinter.

Inquiry

Examine, study, consider, calculate; dip into, dive into, delve into, go deep into; make sure of, probe, sound, fathom; probe to the bottom, probe to the quick; scrutinize, analyze, anatomize, dissect, parse, resolve, sift, winnow; view in all its phases, try in all its phases; thresh out.

Knowledge

Conceive; apprehend, comprehend; take, realize, understand, savvy, appreciate; fathom, make out; recognize, discern, perceive, see, get a sight-of, experience.

Length

Line, nail, inch, hand, palm, foot, cubit, yard, ell, fathom, rood, pole, furlong, mile, league; chain, link; arpent, handbreadth, jornada, kos, vara.

Measurement

Span, pace step; apply the compass; Noun: gauge, plumb, probe, sound, fathom; heave the log, heave the lead; survey.

Crosswords: Fathom

Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. (A Few Good Men; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin. Based on the play by Aaron Sorkin.)

The only excuse that I could fathom would be acceptable is to tell her that I am indeed Batman, and I'm sorry I just saw that Bat signal out the window (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt)

It's hard to fathom (Sent From up Above; performing artist: Mariah Carey)

Fathom (1967)

Full Fathom Five (1937)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Deep Fathom (reference)

• Fathom Dynamic Statistics (reference)

• Fathom Five: The Sequel to the Machine-Gunners (reference)

• Fathom, Book 1 (reference)

• Full Fathom Five (reference)

  (more book examples)

Theater & Movies

• Fathom (reference)

• Full Fathom Five (reference)

• Victory at Sea - Full Fathom Five / Jap Zero (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Fathom This (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Monterey Bay Case Study - Photo #3 Detail of Monterey Bay from 1852 C&GS survey Note 0/120 in center of bay Indicates that bottom was not reached with 120 fathom leadline. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

Pl. XLII. Aldrovandia gracilis, Goode and Bean. From off Guadalupe in 769 fathom s. 158. Aldrovandia pallida, Goode and Bean. At N. Lat. 24.6, W. Lon. 84.1, in 955 fathoms. 159. Congermuraena flava, Goode and Bean. At N. Lat. 10.6, W. Lon. 61.7, in 33 fathoms. 160. Uroconger vicinus, Vaillant. At N. Lat. 23.2, W. Lon. 82.3, in 146 fathoms. Credit: National Marine Fisheries Historical Image Collection.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Dad's voice was a midnight school, teaching deep fathom hours, and the subject was life

Ariel (singing): Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "fathom": fathom line ♦ fathom out. Additional references.

Ending with "fathom": five-fathom, seven-fathom.

Containing "fathom": hundred-fathom-stirrers.

Albanian

pash detar, mas thellësinë (bottom), kuptoj (apprehend, catch, comprehend, cotton on, figure out, find, gather, get, grasp, make out, penetrate, perceive, pick out, Pierce, see, see through, sense, take, take in, twig on, understand). (various references)

Arabic 

‏فهم تماما (seize upon smth.), ‏سبر الغور, ‏القامة مقياس لعمق المياه. (various references)

Bulgarian 

разбирам (apprehend, catch on, comprehend, cotton, discover, figure out, find out, follow, grasp, grip, have, latch, make out, penetrate, perceive, pick up, realize, riddle, rumble, see, see through, sense, take, take in, think, understand, work out), клафтер, проницателност (acuity, acumen, discernment, edge, fineness, insight, penetration, perspicacity, sagacity, shrewdness), измервам дълбочина. (various references)

Chinese 

噚 . (various references)

Czech

sáh (cord), pochopit (comprehend, cotton on to, figure out, figure to oneself, get the message, grasp, perceive, realize, take in, understand), mìřit hloubku, dopátrat se (discover). (various references)

Danish

favn. (various references)

Dutch

vadem, vaam. (various references)

Finnish

syli (arms, cord, lap, six feet). (various references)

French

brasse. (various references)

German

ergründen (discover, penetrate, probe). (various references)

Greek 

καδρόνια τετράγωνου διατομήσ 6 πόδιων, όργια, βυθομετρώ, εμβαθύνω σε, οργιά, οργυιά. (various references)

Hungarian

öl (butcher, kill, lap, murder, slaughter, to butch, to kill), 182. (various references)

Indonesian

menjajaki (plumb, probe, sound out, take soundings), mengukur (engrave, measure, quantify), menduga (assume, consectue, presume, take depth bearings, understand), depa. (various references)

Italian

braccio (arm, boom, brace, bracket, Ell, hand, jib, reach, wing). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

看� � (penetration, reading another's thoughts, see through). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

か�"ぱ (cold wave, penetration, reading another's thoughts, see through). (various references)

Manx

sunteil (sound, sounding), suntal (chart by sounding, sound), feiy (during). (various references)

Norwegian

favn, lodde (capelin). (various references)

Pig Latin

athomfay.(various references)

Portuguese

braça. (various references)

Romanian

stânjen marin, sonda (bore, bottom, canvass, explore, feel the pulse, Plumb, probe, sound), pãtrundere a minţii, pãtrunde cu mintea, mãsurã egala cu 185 cm., mãsura (admeasure, curb, estimate, gauge, measure, measure off, measure out, mensurate, mete out, overshoot the mark, survey), cerceta atent (probe), braţ (arm, armful, brace, channel, hand, jib, lever, limb, offshoot, strength, sweep, upper arm, upper-arm, whip), aprofunda (deepen, go into long comments, root, study, think out), adânci (aggravate, Bury, corrode, deepen, delve, excavate, further, gouge, hole, sound, submerge, subside), înţelege (agree, apprehend, bottom, catch, come it, compass, comprehend, conceive, follow, grasp, interpret, latch on, make of, perceive, read, realize, savvy, scheme, see, see into, seize, take, tumble to, twig, understand). (various references)

Russian 

вникать (see into), морская сажень, проникать....морская сажень, измерять глубину (sound). (various references)

Scottish

aitheamh. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

fatom, proniknuti (come up), dokučiti (ascertain, comprehend, get the hang, grasp). (various references)

Spanish

braza (brace). (various references)

Swedish

loda (Plumb, sound), famn (armful, bosom, cord, embrace, hug). (various references)

Thai

เข้าใจ (conceive, dig, digest, get, make, puzzle out, see, seize, suss, take), วั�"ความลึกของน้ำ. (various references)

Turkish

kulaç (overarm), kavramak (absorb, apperceive, appreciate, apprehend, bite, catch, catch on, clasp, clench, clip, clutch, come home, compass, comprehend, conceive, cup, dawn on, digest, discern, get, get a grip, get hold of, grasp, grip, hold, latch on to, nail, perceive, pick up, realize, see into, seize, sum up, twig, understand), kavrama (apperception, apprehension, bite, chuck, cinch, clasp, claw, clutch, cognation, cognizance, comprehension, conception, digestion, engaging, grasp, grip, gripping, insight, penetration, perception, prehension, seizing, understanding, uptake), içyüzünü araştırmak (search into), derinliğini ölçmek, derinine inmek (get the bottom of, probe), anlamak (absorb, accept, appreciate, apprehend, ascertain, be knowledgeable about, be up to, catch, catch on, click, compass, comprehend, conceive, cotton on to, dawn on, deduce, dig, discern, discover, distinguish, feel, figure out, get, get a grip, get a grip on, get the message, grasp, grip, latch on to, make of, pick out, read, realize, rumble, savvy, see, see into, seize, sense, sum up, take in, twig, understand, wake to, waken, work out), anlama (appreciation, apprehension, comprehension, drift, grasp, grip, insight, intelligence, knowledge, prehension, realization, sense, understanding, uptake). (various references)

Ukrainian

вимірювати глибину, морський сажень. (various references)

Welsh

gwrhyd. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "fathom": fathomable, fathomed, fathoming, fathomless, fathomlessly, fathomlessness, fathomlessnesses, fathoms. (additional references)

Words containing "fathom": unfathomable. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Fathom" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cathcom, Facho, Fadhil, Faha, Faheem, fahom, Fantham, farthom, Fastcomm, fasthom, fath, fathem, Fathima, fathomn, fathon, fathow, fathum, fatom, Fatshan, Fawthrop, Fialho, Flatholm, Hawthom, jathuk, Rakhom. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-2 letters: atom, foam, haft, math, moat, moth, oath.

-3 letters: aft, fat, foh, ham, hao, hat, hot, mat, mho, moa, mot, oaf, oat, oft, ohm, tam, tao, tho, tom.

-4 letters: ah, am, at, fa, ha, hm, ho, ma, mo, of, oh, om, ta, to.

+1 letter: fathoms.

+2 letters: fathomed.

+3 letters: fathoming, homograft.

+4 letters: fathomable, fathomless, homografts.

+5 letters: farthermost.