different between depth vs fathometer

English

Etymology

From Middle English depthe, from Old English *d?epþ (“depth”), from Proto-Germanic *diupiþ? (“depth”), equivalent to deep +? -th. Cognate with Scots deepth (“depth”), Saterland Frisian Djüpte (“depth”), West Frisian djipte (“depth”), Dutch diepte (“depth”), Low German Deepde (“depth”), Danish dybde (“depth”), Icelandic dýpt (“depth”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (diupiþa, “depth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?p?/
• Rhymes: -?p?

Noun

depth (countable and uncountable, plural depths)

1. the vertical distance below a surface; the degree to which something is deep

   Synonyms: deepness, lowness

2. the distance between the front and the back, as the depth of a drawer or closet
3. (figuratively) the intensity, complexity, strength, seriousness or importance of an emotion, situation, etc.

4. lowness

5. (computing, colors) the total palette of available colors
6. (art, photography) the property of appearing three-dimensional

7. (literary, usually in the plural) the deepest part (usually of a body of water)

8. (literary, usually in the plural) a very remote part.

9. the most severe part

10. (logic) the number of simple elements which an abstract conception or notion includes; the comprehension or content
11. (horology) a pair of toothed wheels which work together
12. (aeronautics) the perpendicular distance from the chord to the farthest point of an arched surface
13. (statistics) the lower of the two ranks of a value in an ordered set of values

Synonyms

• (deep place): abyss, bottom, bathos, nadir

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

English

Etymology

fathom (“nautical length measurement used for depth”) +? -meter

Noun

fathometer (plural fathometers)

1. (nautical) A depth finder that uses sound waves to determine the depth of water.
   • 1977, Richard O'Kane, Clear the Bridge: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang (Ballantine Books, 2003), page 347:

     A Fathometer is just a vertical echo-ranger; its pings would sound the same and could drive a submarine out of position just as effectively as horizontal echo-ranging and might even make a contact.

Translations