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| [[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Fathom_global.jpg|right|frame]] | | [[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Fathom_global.jpg|right|frame]] |
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− | While a '''fathom''' is a unit of length in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_unit Imperial system] (and the derived U.S. customary units), used especially for measuring the depth of [[water]], increasingly, the word fathom is found increasingly in metaphorical usage. An example is [http://www.columbia.edu Columbia University]'s aborted launch of [http://www.fathom.com Fathom.com] (logo at right) one the first serious efforts to harness the web for [[education]]al [[purpose]]s. | + | While a '''fathom''' is a unit of length in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_unit Imperial system] (and the derived U.S. customary units), used especially for measuring the depth of [[water]], increasingly, the word fathom is found increasingly in metaphorical usage. An example is [https://www.columbia.edu Columbia University]'s aborted launch of [https://www.fathom.com Fathom.com] (logo at right) one the first serious efforts to harness the web for [[education]]al [[purpose]]s. |
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| There are 2 yards (6 feet) in a fathom.[1] Based on the distance between the fingertips of a man's outstretched arms, its size varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard. Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around 5 and 5½ feet. | | There are 2 yards (6 feet) in a fathom.[1] Based on the distance between the fingertips of a man's outstretched arms, its size varied slightly depending on whether it was defined as a thousandth of an (Admiralty) nautical mile or as a multiple of the imperial yard. Formerly, the term was used for any of several units of length varying around 5 and 5½ feet. |
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| # Encyclopædia Britannica eleventh edition 1911. | | # Encyclopædia Britannica eleventh edition 1911. |
| # Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989; | | # Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989; |
− | # Bosworth, Joseph; Thomas Toller (ed.) (1898). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. http://beowulf.engl.uky.edu/cgi-bin/Bosworth-Toller/ebind2html3.cgi/bosworth?seq=285. | + | # Bosworth, Joseph; Thomas Toller (ed.) (1898). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. https://beowulf.engl.uky.edu/cgi-bin/Bosworth-Toller/ebind2html3.cgi/bosworth?seq=285. |
| # Fathom - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. | | # Fathom - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. |
| # Fenna (2000: 88-89) | | # Fenna (2000: 88-89) |
− | # "NOAA Chart". http://www.oceangrafix.com/o.g/Charts/chartViewer.html?viewRegion=GreatLakes&viewChart=Lake-Huron. Retrieved 2008-05-22. | + | # "NOAA Chart". https://www.oceangrafix.com/o.g/Charts/chartViewer.html?viewRegion=GreatLakes&viewChart=Lake-Huron. Retrieved 2008-05-22. |
| # Sounding lead. By James Mathews. Navy & Marine Living History Association. | | # Sounding lead. By James Mathews. Navy & Marine Living History Association. |
| # Burney: "Vocbulary of Sea Terms", 1876. | | # Burney: "Vocbulary of Sea Terms", 1876. |
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| # Glossary of Marine Navigaion. Page 763. I'd Rather Be Sailing. | | # Glossary of Marine Navigaion. Page 763. I'd Rather Be Sailing. |
| # Hirsch, Jr, E.D.; Kett, Joseph F; Trefi, James (2002). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618226478. | | # Hirsch, Jr, E.D.; Kett, Joseph F; Trefi, James (2002). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0618226478. |
− | # "Mining Encyclopaedia". U.K. Mine and Quarry Information and Exploration. http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/open-htm-white-paper.asp?id=4. Retrieved 2007-05-28. | + | # "Mining Encyclopaedia". U.K. Mine and Quarry Information and Exploration. https://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/open-htm-white-paper.asp?id=4. Retrieved 2007-05-28. |
− | # "Norskeordboker". http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/ordboksoek/ordbok.cgi?OPP=fa%F0mr&begge=S%F8k+i+begge+ordb%F8kene&ordbok=nynorsk&s=n&alfabet=n&renset=j&fritekst=on. Retrieved 2009-09-08. | + | # "Norskeordboker". https://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/ordboksoek/ordbok.cgi?OPP=fa%F0mr&begge=S%F8k+i+begge+ordb%F8kene&ordbok=nynorsk&s=n&alfabet=n&renset=j&fritekst=on. Retrieved 2009-09-08. |
| # As of 1862 conversion to the metric system. | | # As of 1862 conversion to the metric system. |
| ==References== | | ==References== |