Standard Lemma guide

fathomable

adj · 3 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.

  • /ˈfæðəməbəl/
  • /ˈfæðməbəl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F AE1 DH AH0 M AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

able to be fathomed

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The mystery was finally fathomable after years of research.
  • His motives were barely fathomable to his friends.
  • The meaning of the poem is easily fathomable with context.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective

Meaning 2

(of depth) capable of being sounded or measured for depth

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: plumbable, soundable

Antonyms: unfathomable

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

(of meaning) capable of being penetrated or comprehended

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English fathom Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin -ābilis Old French -ablebor. Middle English -able English -able English fathomable From fathom + -able.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: begribelig — possible to understand
  • Finnish: ymmärrettävä — possible to understand
  • French: compréhensible — possible to understand
  • Manx: so-huntal — possible to understand
  • Manx: so-feaysley — possible to understand
  • Russian: постижимый (postižimyj) — possible to understand
  • Swedish: begriplig — possible to understand
  • Swedish: förståelig — possible to understand