FATHOM  (a word

common, in various forms, to Scandinavian and Teutonic languages; cf . Danish faun, Dutch vaam and Ger . Faden, and meaning " the arms extended "; the ultimate origin is a root pet, seen in the Gr. sreraevbeat, to spread), a measure of length, being the distance from the tip of one middle finger to the tip of the other, when the arms are stretched out to their widest extent . This length has been standardized to a measure of 6 ft., and as such is used mainly in soundings as a unit for measuring the depth of the sea . " Fathom " is also used in the measurement of timber, when it is equivalent to 6 it. sq.; similarly, in mining, a fathom is a portion of ground running the whole thickness of the vein of ore, and is 6 ft. in breadth and thickness . The verb " to fathom," i.e. to sound or measure with a fathom-line, is used figuratively, meaning to go into a subject deeply, to penetrate, or to explore thoroughly . See J . J . Blunt, Right Use of the . Fathers, p . 15 if . See Stanton, Place of Authority in Religion, p .

165 f . Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum . Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteliern der ersten drei Jahrhunderte .