Link Centre Dictionary

depth

UK/dɛpθ/ US/ˈdɛpθ/ fairly common literary

noun

1.

extent downward or backward or inward

  • “the depth of the water”
  • “depth of a shelf”
  • “depth of a closet”
2.
3.

(usually plural) the deepest and most remote part

  • “from the depths of darkest Africa”
  • “signals received from the depths of space”
4.

(usually plural) a low moral state

  • “he had sunk to the depths of addiction”
5.

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • beyond one's depth
  • bit depth
  • color depth
  • crush depth
  • defence in depth
  • defense in depth
  • depth bomb
  • depth charge

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.