What is a fathom? How can fathom be used as a noun or verb? This article will teach you all you need to know about the meaning of fathom.
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Kevin
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February 8, 2022
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Can you fathom the meaning of the word fathom? Read below to discover the many definitions of fathom!
What Does the Word Fathom Mean?
According to Dictionary, fathom can be used as either a noun or a verb. As a noun, this word refers to a unit of length that measures six cubic feet (1.8 meters) as a unit of volume. This unit of measurement is used exclusively in nautical measurements, such as a nautical mile. A fathom is roughly a thousandth of a nautical mile.
As a verb, this word can mean measuring the depth of something using a sounding line. However, it is often used figuratively to mean to comprehend, understand, or investigate.
Other forms fathom include the adjective fathomable, the noun fathomer, the adjective unfathomable, and the adjective unfathomed. Fathom is two syllables (fath-om), and the pronunciation of fathom isˈfæðəm.
What Are Translations of the Word Fathom?
Below, you’ll find a list of numerous translations of the word fathom. These words can be useful if you deal with a system of international measurements.
- Russian: морская са́жень (fem.), фатом (masc.), фадом (masc.)
- Japanese: hiro
- Norwegian: favn
- Dutch: vadem
- Norman: brache (fem.)
- French: brasse (fem.)
- Italian: braccio (masc.)
- Estonian: süld
- Polish: sążeń
- Hungarian: öl
- Slovene: seženj (masc.)
- Finnish: syli
- Portuguese: braça
- Turkish: kulaç
- Sanskrit: व्याम (fem.)
- Chinese: 一臂长(yi bei chang)
- Catalan: braça (fem.)
- Faroese: favnur (masc.)
- Tagalog: dipa
- Romanian: braț (neut.), fathom (masc.)
- Telugu: బార
- Slovak: siaha (fem.)
- Maori: whanganga, aronui, mārō
- Erzya: сэль
- Irish: feá (masc.)
- Galician: braza (fem.)
- Danish: favn (common)
- Swedish: famn
- Bulgarian: фатом (masc.), клафтер (masc.)
- Roman: hvat
- Cyrillic: хват
- Spanish: braza
- Malay: depa
- German: Klafter (masc.) (n), Faden (masc.)
- Czech: sáh (masc.)
What Is the Etymology of the Word Fathom?
The word fathom has been used since the Middle English fadme, Middle English fathome, and Middle English fathme, which referred to an embrace and the lap, breast, or womb.
This word comes from the Old English fæþm and Old English fæthm, which means “outstretched arms.” Since the word fathom is used as a term of measurement to mean six feet, it makes sense that this would be roughly the measurement of the distance from fingertip to fingertip if a man’s arms were outstretched.
The Old English term comes from the cognates in the German faden, Old Frisian fethem, Danish favn, Dutch vadem, Icelandic faðmur, Swedish famn, Low German fadem, Old Norse fathmr, and Old High German fadum.
Fathom has Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European roots. Other ancient variations on fathom include fæþme, faþmaz, fadome, vaam, and faem. These come from the Latin patēre and pandere, as well as the Greek petannynai.
Fathom was originally used as a verb to mean to embrace. By the 1600s, it was used as a form of measurement at sea and a verb meaning to measure by a sounding line. Its alternate meanings also developed around this time.
How Can the Word Fathom Be Used in a Sentence?
Looking at examples of fathom is a great way to learn how to use this word in a sentence. After looking at the examples below, try coming up with your own sentences:
She tried to fathom his motives for pushing the 12th-century painting into the body of water, especially when it was at unprecedented levels of dryness due to drought conditions.
It was tough to fathom why you satisfy your wife’s every passing whim. You’re like a little pet she pulls into her bosom.
The pilot — who used to be a sailor — measured the cable length in imperial fathoms, as he would a ship’s length. The other pilots were confused by this multiple of the imperial yard.
She could not fathom why the enigmatic person would take a trip to Las Vegas in the middle of a difficult situation. It might have been a contrivance, but she thought he was hiding something.
She used her intellect and profundity to fathom the theorems she studied at Princeton University to the extent of the capacity of her mental reach.
The customary systems measured things in the size of a fathom, which the engineers thought was evil. They could not grasp the measurement system and were frustrated since this was not being used to measure water’s depth.
What Are Synonyms of the Word Fathom?
We could use many different words in place of the verb fathom. Try looking at this list of synonyms for the word fathom from Power Thesaurus to see what different words you could use to replace fathom in a sentence:
- appreciate
- apprehend
- ascertain
- be aware of
- be wise to
- bottom
- catch
- catch on
- catch on to
- comprehend
- crack
- decipher
- decode
- determine
- dig
- discern
- discover
- divine
- figure out
- follow
- gauge
- get
- get to the bottom of
- grasp
- interpret
- investigate
- ken
- know
- make out
- measure
- penetrate
- perceive
- plumb
- plumbing
- probe
- puzzle out
- realize
- recognize
- resolve
- savvy
- see
- solve
- sound
- take in
- take soundings
- twig
- understand
- unravel
- unriddle
- untangle
- work out
Conclusion
Overall, the noun fathom is a maritime measure of the depth of navigable water. Aside from its use as a measurement, it can also mean to put much thought toward, to ponder, or to penetrate with a depth of thought.
This linear unit of measurement is now used to explain the depth of a body of water, but it originally referred to the length of a man’s outstretched arms. This is an SI unit of length equal to six feet.
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