It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for February 18th. Today's word is f-a-t-h-h-o-m-f-hathom is a verb. To fathom something is to

understand the reason for its existence or occurrence. Here's the word used in a sentence from Smithsonian

magazine by Andy Kiefer. Oppenheimer provides an opportunity to revisit

this charismatic contradictory man and reconsider how previous attempts

to tell his story have succeeded and failed at fathoming one of the 20th century's most fascinating public figures.

The word fathom comes from the Old English word meaning outstretched arms.

The noun fathom, which now commonly refers to a measure, especially of depth, of six feet, was

originally used for the distance fingertip to fingertip created by stretching one's arms straight out from the sides of the body.

In one of its earliest uses, the verb fathom was a synonym of our modern word embrace. To fathom someone was to encircle the person with your

arms. By the 1600s, fathom had taken to the seas, with the verb being used to mean to measure by a sounding line. At the same time

the verb also developed senses synonymous with probe and investigate and

and it is now frequently used to refer to the act of getting to the bottom

of something figuratively speaking.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Marion Webster.com today for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.