Standard Lemma guide

depth

noun · 21 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /dɛpθ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛpθ
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH1 P TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Measure the depth of the water in this part of the bay.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deepness, lowness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the distance between the front and the back, as the depth of a drawer or closet

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the intensity, complexity, strength, seriousness or importance of an emotion, situation, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, figuratively, uncountable

Examples

  • The depth of her misery was apparent to everyone.
  • The depth of the crisis had been exaggerated.
  • We were impressed by the depth of her knowledge.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

lowness

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • the depth of a sound

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the total palette of available colors

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: colors

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the property of appearing three-dimensional

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: art, arts, hobbies, lifestyle, photography

Examples

  • The depth of field in this picture is amazing.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

the deepest part (usually of a body of water)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, literary, plural-normally, uncountable

Examples

  • The burning ship finally sunk into the depths.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

a very remote part.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, literary, plural-normally, uncountable

Examples

  • Into the depths of the jungle...
  • In the depths of the night,

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

the most severe part

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • in the depth of the crisis
  • in the depths of winter

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

the number of simple elements which an abstract conception or notion includes; the comprehension or content

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, logic, mathematics, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

a pair of toothed wheels which work together

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: hobbies, horology, lifestyle

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

the perpendicular distance from the chord to the farthest point of an arched surface

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: aeronautics, aerospace, business, engineering, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

the lower of the two ranks of a value in an ordered set of values

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

A set of more than one ciphertext enciphered with the same key.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: computing, cryptography, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

An invariant of rings and modules, encoding information about dimensionality; see Depth (ring theory).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: ring theory

Topics: algebra, mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

noun

Meaning 16

degree of psychological or intellectual profundity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: degree, grade, level

Narrower terms: profundity, profoundness, superficiality, shallowness

17

noun

Meaning 17

the attribute or quality of being deep, strong, or intense

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the depth of his breathing
  • the depth of his sighs,
  • the depth of his emotion

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attribute

18

noun

Meaning 18

the extent downward or backward or inward

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the depth of the water
  • depth of a shelf
  • depth of a closet

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deepness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: extent

Narrower terms: deepness, profundity, profoundness, draft, draught, penetration, sounding, shallowness

19

noun

Meaning 19

the intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: astuteness, profundity, profoundness, deepness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wisdom, sapience

20

noun

Meaning 20

(usually plural) the deepest and most remote part

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • from the depths of darkest Africa
  • signals received from the depths of space

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: region, part

Narrower terms: back of beyond

21

noun

Meaning 21

(usually plural) a low moral state

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had sunk to the depths of addiction

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: abasement, degradation, abjection

History

Etymology

From Middle English depthe, from Old English *dīepþ (“depth”), from Proto-Germanic *diupiþō (“depth”), equivalent to deep + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognates Cognate with Scots deepth, Saterland Frisian Djüpte, West Frisian djipte (“depth; abyss, chasm”), Dutch diepte, German Low German Deepd, Luxembourgish Déift, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål dybde (“depth”), Faroese dýpd (“depth”), Icelandic dýpt, Norwegian Nynorsk djupt, dypt, and Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌹𐌸𐌰 (diupiþa, “depth”); further to Old English diepe, German Tiefe, Icelandic dýpi, Norwegian Nynorsk djup, djupn, Swedish djup.

Across languages

Translations

112 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: thellësi — vertical distance below a surface
  • Southern Altai: тереҥ (tereŋ) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Arabic: عَمْق (ʕamq) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Armenian: խորություն (xorutʻyun) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Armenian: խորք (xorkʻ) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Assamese: পোতন (püton) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Assamese: গভীৰতা (gobhirota) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Azerbaijani: dərinlik — vertical distance below a surface
  • Belarusian: глыбіня́ (hlybinjá) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Bulgarian: дълбочина́ (dǎlbočiná) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Burmese: အနက် (a.nak) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Catalan: profunditat — vertical distance below a surface
  • Chinese Cantonese: 深度 (sam1 dou6) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Chinese Mandarin: 深度 (shēndù) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Czech: hloubka — vertical distance below a surface
  • Danish: dybde — vertical distance below a surface
  • Dutch: diepte — vertical distance below a surface
  • Esperanto: profundo — vertical distance below a surface
  • Estonian: sügavus — vertical distance below a surface
  • Faroese: dýpi — vertical distance below a surface
  • Finnish: syvyys — vertical distance below a surface
  • French: profondeur — vertical distance below a surface
  • Georgian: სიღრმე (siɣrme) — vertical distance below a surface
  • German: Tiefe — vertical distance below a surface
  • Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌴𐌹 (diupei) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍀𐌹𐌸𐌰 (diupiþa) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Greek: βάθος (váthos) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Ancient Greek: βάθος (báthos) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Hebrew: עומק \ עֹמֶק ('omek) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Hindi: गहराई (gahrāī) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Hungarian: mélység — vertical distance below a surface
  • Icelandic: dýpt — vertical distance below a surface
  • Indonesian: kedalaman — vertical distance below a surface
  • Irish: doimhneacht — vertical distance below a surface
  • Italian: profondità — vertical distance below a surface
  • Japanese: 深さ (fukasa) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Japanese: 深度 (shindo) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Kapampangan: lalam — vertical distance below a surface
  • Kapampangan: kelalaman — vertical distance below a surface
  • Kazakh: тереңдік (tereñdık) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Khmer: ជំរៅ (chumrɨv) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Korean: 깊이 (gipi) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Korean: 심도 (simdo) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Kyrgyz: тереңдик (tereŋdik) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Lao: ຄວາມເລິກ (khuām lœk) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Latin: profunditas — vertical distance below a surface
  • Latin: altitudo — vertical distance below a surface
  • Latvian: dziļums — vertical distance below a surface
  • Latvian: dzelme — vertical distance below a surface
  • Latvian: dzīle — vertical distance below a surface
  • Lithuanian: gylis — vertical distance below a surface
  • Lithuanian: gilumas — vertical distance below a surface
  • Low German: Deepde — vertical distance below a surface
  • Luxembourgish: Déift — vertical distance below a surface
  • Macedonian: длабочина (dlabočina) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Malagasy: halalina — vertical distance below a surface
  • Malay: kedalaman — vertical distance below a surface
  • Malayalam: ആഴം (āḻaṁ) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Māori: rētōtanga — vertical distance below a surface
  • Māori: hohonu — vertical distance below a surface
  • Norman: profondeu — vertical distance below a surface
  • Norwegian Bokmål: dybde — vertical distance below a surface
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: djupn — vertical distance below a surface
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: djupne — vertical distance below a surface
  • Occitan: prigondor — vertical distance below a surface
  • Persian: ژرفا (žarfâ) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Persian: عمق ('omq) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Polish: głębokość — vertical distance below a surface
  • Portuguese: profundidade — vertical distance below a surface
  • Portuguese: fundura — vertical distance below a surface
  • Portuguese: profundeza — vertical distance below a surface
  • Romanian: adâncime — vertical distance below a surface
  • Romanian: profunzime — vertical distance below a surface
  • Russian: глубина́ (glubiná) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Serbo-Croatian: дубѝна — vertical distance below a surface
  • Serbo-Croatian: dubìna — vertical distance below a surface
  • Slovak: hĺbka — vertical distance below a surface
  • Slovene: globina — vertical distance below a surface
  • Spanish: profundidad — vertical distance below a surface
  • Spanish: calo — vertical distance below a surface
  • Spanish: hondura — vertical distance below a surface
  • Spanish: calado — vertical distance below a surface
  • Swahili: kina — vertical distance below a surface
  • Swedish: djup (1, 2) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Swedish: vidd — vertical distance below a surface
  • Swedish: färgdjup — vertical distance below a surface
  • Sylheti: ꠝꠥꠠ (muṛ) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tagalog: lalim — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tagalog: kalaliman — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tajik: умқ (umq) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tajik: чуқурӣ (čuquri) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tamil: ஆழம் (āḻam) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Tamil: அகப்பு (akappu) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Thai: ความลึก (kwaam-lʉ́k) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Turkish: derinlik — vertical distance below a surface
  • Ottoman Turkish: دریڭلك (deriñlik) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Turkmen: çuňluk — vertical distance below a surface
  • Ukrainian: глибина́ (hlybyná) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Urdu: گہرائی (gahrāī) — vertical distance below a surface
  • Uzbek: chuqurlik — vertical distance below a surface
  • Uzbek: teranlik — vertical distance below a surface
  • Vietnamese: độ sâu — vertical distance below a surface
  • Welsh: dyfnder — vertical distance below a surface
  • Zulu: ukushona — vertical distance below a surface
  • Zulu: ubude — vertical distance below a surface
  • Finnish: syvyys — distance between the front and the back
  • Japanese: 奥行き (okuyuki) — distance between the front and the back
  • Estonian: sügavus — intensity of an emotion, situation, etc.
  • Finnish: syvyys — intensity of an emotion, situation, etc.
  • Irish: doimhneacht — intensity of an emotion, situation, etc.
  • Spanish: profundidad — intensity of an emotion, situation, etc.
  • French: épaisseur — perpendicular distance from the chord to the farthest point
Real reading context

depth in complete knowledge articles