Both Uses of
fathom
in
The Scarlet Letter
- The page of life that was spread out before me seemed dull and commonplace only because I had not fathomed its deeper import.†
p. 36.8 *fathomed = came to understand
- "People of New England!" cried he, with a voice that rose over them, high, solemn, and majestic—yet had always a tremor through it, and sometimes a shriek, struggling up out of a fathomless depth of remorse and woe—"ye, that have loved me!†
p. 237.2fathomless = impossible to understandstandard suffix: The suffix "-less" in fathomless means without and reverses the meaning of fathom. This is the same pattern you see in words like harmless, fearless, and powerless.
Definitions:
-
(1)
(fathom as in: can't fathom) understand something -- especially when it’s difficult or complex
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Fathom can also refer to a unit of measure for water depth (6 feet), or to the act of measuring the depth of water.