Fathomless
/ˈfæð.əm.ləs/noun
Having no apparent bottom or limit; immeasurably deep or vast.
Did you know?Fathomless comes from fathom, an old word for the span of outstretched arms used to measure depth, so the word originally evokes water so deep it defeats human reach.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pet-
“to spread out, stretch”
Old English
OE
fæþm
“outstretched arms; embrace; a measure of length based on the span of the arms”
Old English
OE
fæthmian
“to embrace; to encircle with the arms”
Middle English
ME
fathme
“a unit of depth or length equal to the span of outstretched arms”
Modern English
English
fathom
“a unit of depth equal to six feet; to understand or grasp”
Modern English
English
fathomless
“without measurable depth; impossible to fully understand”