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  1. fathom love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A unit of length equal to 6 feet (1.83 meters), used principally in the measurement and specification of marine depths.
  2. v. To penetrate to the meaning or nature of; comprehend.
  3. v. To determine the depth of; sound.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Originally, the space to which a man may extend his arms; specifically, a measure of length containing 6 feet: used chiefly in nautical and mining measurements.
  2. n. Hence Mental reach or scope; penetration; the extent of capacity; depth of thought or contrivance.
  3. To encompass with the arms extended or encircling.
  4. To reach in depth by measurement in fathoms; sound; try the depth of; penetrate to or find the bottom or extent of.
  5. Hence To penetrate with the mind; comprehend.

Wiktionary

  1. n. obsolete Grasp, envelopment, control.
  2. n. nautical A measure of length corresponding to the outstretched arms, standardised to six feet, now used mainly for measuring depths in seas or oceans.
  3. n. by extension Mental reach or scope; penetration; the extent of capacity; depth of thought or contrivance.
  4. v. transitive, archaic To encircle with outstretched arms, especially to take a measurement; to embrace.
  5. v. transitive To measure the depth of, take a sounding of.
  6. v. transitive, figuratively To get to the bottom of; to manage to comprehend (a problem etc.).

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A measure of length, containing six feet; the space to which a man can extend his arms; -- used chiefly in measuring cables, cordage, and the depth of navigable water by soundings.
  2. n. rare The measure or extant of one's capacity; depth, as of intellect; profundity; reach; penetration.
  3. v. obsolete To encompass with the arms extended or encircling; to measure by throwing the arms about; to span.
  4. v. To measure by a sounding line; especially, to sound the depth of; to penetrate, measure, and comprehend; to get to the bottom of.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line
  2. n. a linear unit of measurement (equal to 6 feet) for water depth
  3. v. come to understand
  4. n. (mining) a unit of volume (equal to 6 cubic feet) used in measuring bodies of ore

Etymologies

  1. From Middle English fathome, fadome, from Old English fæþm, fæþme ("outstretched or encircling arms, embrace, grasp, protection, interior, bosom, lap, breast, womb, fathom, cubit, power, expanse, surface"), from Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“embrace”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to spread out, extend”). Cognate with Low German fadem, faem ("a cubit, thread"), Dutch vadem, vaam ("fathom"), German Faden ("thread, filament, fathom"), Danish favn ("embrace, fathom"), Swedish famn ("the arms, bosom, embrace"), Icelandic faðmur ("embrace"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English fathme, from Old English fæthm, outstretched arms. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (11)

Words with the same meaning

  1. profundity
  2. reach
  1. penetration
  2. span
  1. sound
  2. understand
  1. explore
  2. puzzle out
  1. fathom out
  2. figure out
  1. work out

hypernyms (13)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. quantify
  2. measure
  1. linear unit
  2. linear measure
  1. understand
  2. cubage unit
  1. cubature unit
  2. cubic measure
  1. volume unit
  2. capacity measure
  1. capacity unit
  2. displacement unit
  1. cubic content unit

same context (17)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. FT
  2. centimeters
  3. kilometers
  1. cm
  2. league
  3. meter
  1. gallon
  2. deg
  3. inch
  1. mile
  2. reef
  3. shoal
  1. acre
  2. LB
  3. cwt
  1. mm
  2. ×

reverse dictionary (32)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. fath
  2. faddom
  3. fadme
  4. fathomly
  5. delve
  6. Lacerta
  1. dipa
  2. epiplanktonic
  3. Hiro
  4. braza
  5. inscrutable
  6. danda
  1. fathom-wood
  2. incomprehensible
  3. fth.
  4. fm.
  5. fm
  6. fth
  1. bottom
  2. sound
  3. teise
  4. plumb
  5. in soundings
  6. span
  1. tut-work
  2. brass
  3. measure
  4. epiplankton
  5. f 5
  6. klafter
  1. unit
  2. yardage

tags (2)

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  1. nautical
  1. cvccvc

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  • fbharjo just beyond reach?

    compare to toise!

    The 'toise' was introduced by Charlemagne in 790; it originally represented the distance between the fingertips of a man with outstretched arms, and is thus the same as the British 'fathom'.” Feb 9, 2013

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‘fathom’ has been looked up 6541 times, loved by 10 people, added to 111 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 14.