fathom
/ˈfað(ə)m/
"fathom" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fathom” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,922. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #20,922
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fathom · fathom · English
fathom · rank #20,922 · 9 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #20,922
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH Ezekiel
Nearest frequency peer: Ezekiel (-2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “fathom”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- extant
extant
79,082 corpus weight
- Ezekiel
Ezekiel
79,081 corpus weight
- fathom
fathom
79,079 corpus weight
- fictitious
fictitious
79,077 corpus weight
- firsthand
firsthand
79,076 corpus weight
- Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick
79,075 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “fathom” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fathom |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfað(ə)m/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #20,922 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fathom” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around fathom (IPA /ˈfað(ə)m/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,922 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for fathom, with forms such as "afthom", "fahtom", and "fathhom". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "father", "fandom", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fathome, fadom, fadme (“unit of length of about six feet; depth of six feet for nautical soundings; (loosely) cubit; ell”) [and other forms], from Old English fæþm, fæþme (“encircling or outstretched arms, bosom, embrace; envelopment; co… The correct English form is fathom, spelled F-A-T-H-O-M.
Definition
- 1A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.
- 2A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced by the metre outside American usage.
- 3A measure of distance to shore: the nearest point to shore at which the water depth is the value quoted.
- 4An unspecified depth.
- 5Depth of insight; mental reach or scope.
- 6The act of stretching out one's arms away from the sides of the torso so that they make a straight line perpendicular to the body.
- 7Someone or something that is embraced.
- 8Control, grasp.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fathom appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[T]he ſhipmen deemed that they drew neere to ſome countrey: And ſounded, and found it twentie fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they ſounded againe, and found it fifteene fathoms.
Full fadom fiue thy Father lies, Of his bones are Corrall made: Those are pearles that were his eies, Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a Sea-change Into someting rich, & strange
Etymology
From Middle English fathome, fadom, fadme (“unit of length of about six feet; depth of six feet for nautical soundings; (loosely) cubit; ell”) [and other forms], from Old English fæþm, fæþme (“encircling or outstretched arms, bosom, embrace; envelopment; control, grasp, power; fathom (unit of measurement); cubit”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *faþm (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Germanic *faþmaz (“outstretched arms, embrace; fathom (unit of measurement)”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet-, *peth₂- (“to spread out; to fly”). Cognates * Ancient Greek πέταλος (pétalos, “broad; flat”), πετᾰ́ννῡμῐ (petắnnūmĭ, “to open; to spread out; to be dispersed or scattered”) (whence English petal) * Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌸𐌰 (faþa, “fench; hedge”) * Latin pateō (“to extend, increase; to be accessible, attainable, open; to be exposed, vulnerable”) * Low German fadem, faem (“cubit; thread”) * Middle Dutch vadem (modern Dutch vaam, vadem (“fathom”)) * Norwegian Bokmål favn (“an embrace; a fathom”) * Old Frisian fethm (“outstretched arms”) * Old High German fadam, fadum (“cubit”) (Middle High German vade (“enclosure”), vadem, vaden, modern German Faden (“fathom; filament, thread”)) * Old Norse faþmr (Danish favn (“an embrace; a fathom”), Icelandic faðmur (“an embrace”), Swedish famn (“the arms, bosom; an embrace”)) * Old Welsh etem (“thread”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- afthom
- fahtom
- fathhom
- fathmo
- fathomm
- fatohm
- fatthom
- ffathom
- ftahom
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fathom - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fathom", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "fathom". Here's where to go from here.
- "fathom" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "father". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #20,922 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.