Literary notes about fathom (AI summary)
The word "fathom" is used in literature with a remarkable duality, referring both to a measure of depth and to the act of understanding something profound. In nautical contexts, it frequently denotes a specific length of water—illustrated when a vessel’s line is measured in fathoms ([1], [2], [3])—while in a more figurative sense, it comes to mean the process of grasping the deep or mysterious aspects of life, such as interpreting hidden emotions or the enigmatic nature of human behavior ([4], [5], [6], [7]). Moreover, the term is also cleverly employed as a proper noun, most memorably embodied by the character Fathom in a series of adventures where his name itself suggests a profound, albeit paradoxical, kind of depth ([8], [9], [10], [11]). Such varied usages underscore the rich, layered connotations that the word "fathom" carries across different literary genres.
- On each rope, six feet from the spearhead, is a fathom mark made by tying on a rag or cord.
— from Boy Scouts Handbook by Boy Scouts of America - Another anchor was got ready and dropped in a fathom and a half of water.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - I Set out and proceeded up a Short distance and attempted a Second time to fathom the river with my cord of 5 fathom but could find no bottom.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis - She read in his glance kindliness, and something else more difficult to fathom.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - Though I understood the words I could never fathom their full significance.
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - But who can fathom the subtleties of the human heart?
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - “But it is so difficult, and even impossible to understand, that surely I am not to be blamed because I could not fathom the incomprehensible?
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - This was the most remarkable object which had hitherto presented itself to the eyes of Fathom.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - Fathom, though possessed of the spoils of poor Celinda's honour, did not enjoy his success with tranquillity.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - So saying, he drew the curtain, and the company retired, leaving Fathom entranced with wonder.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett - Such certainly is her son, Fathom, the hero of the book.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. Smollett
