fathom

[fath -uh m]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fathom ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural fath·oms, (especially collectively) fath·om.

a unit of length equal to six feet (1.8 meters): used chiefly in nautical measurements. Abbreviation: fath

verb (used with object)

to measure the depth of by means of a sounding line; sound.

to penetrate to the truth of; comprehend; understand: to fathom someone's motives.

Origin of fathom

before 900; Middle English fathme, Old English fæthm span of outstretched arms; cognate with German Faden six-foot measure, Old Norse fathmr; akin to patent

Related formsfath·om·a·ble, adjectivefath·om·er, nounun·fath·om·a·ble, adjectiveun·fath·omed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fathomable

clear, comprehensible, intelligible, logical, comprehendible

Examples from the Web for fathomable

Historical Examples of fathomable

But in every other sense, in all that touches the fathomable business of daylight, she has been a conspicuous success.
The Open Secret of Ireland
T. M. Kettle
They are fathomable; for carried to a certain pitch of intensity they end in ecstasy or they end in death.
The Complex Vision
John Cowper Powys
They are fathomable; for even in the souls of "the immortals" they are only instruments of life warring against death.
The Complex Vision
John Cowper Powys
The twitching would disappear for a time for no fathomable reason, and reappear again.
Tics and Their Treatment
Henry Meigne

British Dictionary definitions for fathomable

fathom

noun

a unit of length equal to six feet (1.829 metres), used to measure depths of water

mining a unit of volume usually equal to six cubic feet, used in measuring ore bodies

forestry a unit of volume equal to six cubic feet, used for measuring timber

verb (tr)

to measure the depth of, esp with a sounding line; sound

to penetrate (a mystery, problem, etc); discover the meaning of

Derived Formsfathomable, adjectivefathomer, noun

Word Origin for fathom

Old English fæthm; related to Old Frisian fethem outstretched arms, Old Norse fathmr embrace, Old High German fadum cubit, Latin patēre to gape

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fathomable

adj.

1630s, figurative; 1690s, literal; from fathom (v.) + -able.

fathom

Old English fæðm "length of the outstretched arm" (a measure of about six feet), also "arms, grasp," and, figuratively "power," from Proto-Germanic *fathmaz "embrace" (cf. Old Norse faðmr "embrace, bosom," Old Saxon fathmos "the outstretched arms," Dutch vadem "a measure of six feet"), from PIE *pot(e)-mo-, from root *pete- "to spread, stretch out" (see pace (n.)). There are apparent cognates in Old Frisian fethem, German faden "thread," which OED explains by reference to "spreading out."

fathom

Old English fæðmian "to embrace, surround, envelop;" see fathom (n.). The meaning "take soundings" is from c.1600; its figurative sense of "get to the bottom of, understand" is 1620s. Related: Fathomed; fathoming.