depth
Pluraldepths
- 1The vertical distance from a surface down to a given point; how deep something is.
Engineers checked the depth of the foundation before pouring concrete.
The submarine descended to a depth of three hundred meters.
UsageWith a number, use a depth of: dived to a depth of 30 meters, buried at a depth of two feet.
Similardeepness
- 2The degree to which an emotion, situation, or the like is strong, intense, complex, serious, or significant.
The novel explores the depth of human grief with rare honesty.
Critics praised the emotional depth of her performance.
UsageUsually the depth of followed by the thing measured: the depth of her knowledge, the depth of the problem.
Similarintensity, profundity, complexity, strength, seriousness
Oppositeshallowness, superficiality
Note
Here the measure of how deep has become a measure of how much: grief, knowledge or a crisis can be sounded like water. A crisis can take either reading. The depth of the crisis had been exaggerated is about its seriousness, while in the depth of the crisis points to its worst point.
- 3The distance from the front to the back, such as in a drawer or closet.
The cabinet's depth made it hard to reach items at the back.
Builders increased the drawer's depth to hold larger files.
- 4The deepest, innermost, or most remote part of a place, such as the bottom of the sea or the heart of a forest; usually 'the depths'.
Old legends tell of a sunken bell that rings from the depths of the lake on stormy nights.
The old hermit lived alone in the depths of the forest, miles from the nearest road.
UsageUsually plural with of: the depths of the sea, the depths of the forest.
Note
Mostly a plural, and mostly a writer's word. A burning ship sinks into the depths, and no sea needs to be named, because the phrase already carries it. The singular, as in the depth of the woods, is rarer and sounds more poetic. Remote places take the same plural: the depths of the forest, the depths of the countryside.
- 5The quality of appearing three-dimensional, with a sense of space and distance.
The photographer blurred the background to give the portrait more depth.
Layered brushstrokes give the landscape surprising depth.
UsageNot the same as depth of field, which is how much of a photo, near to far, is in sharp focus.
Similardimension, perspective, solidity
Oppositeflatness
Note
Painters and photographers use it for space that is not really there. On a flat surface, perspective, overlapping forms, shading and selective focus make some things seem to sit farther back than others, and the usual verbs are give and create.
- 6The most severe or extreme part of a situation or period.
At the depth of the crisis, supplies ran dangerously low.
Even in the depths of the Depression, the little diner never closed its doors.
UsageUsually in the depths of: in the depths of winter. A single crisis can also take in the depth of.
Less common meanings
- 7The number of distinct colors a digital image or display can show, set by the bits used for each pixel.
Reducing the image's depth to eight bits limited it to 256 colors.
Photo editors prefer images with a high color depth, since smooth skies then show fewer visible bands.
UsageMost often in the phrases color depth and bit depth.
Note
A computing measure counted in bits: each pixel's color is given a fixed number of bits, and that number sets how many distinct colors an image or display can reproduce. Eight bits allow 256 colors, so depth is quoted as a bit count rather than as a list of hues. More depth means finer steps between shades, which is why gradients look smoother.
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Color depth measures the bits used to represent each pixel's color. helpx.adobe.com
- The bit count determines how many distinct colors can be represented. mathworks.com
- Eight bits per pixel allow 256 colors. product.corel.com
- Greater bit depth provides finer precision and reduces visible banding in gradients. helpx.adobe.com
- 8The quality of being low in pitch, as of a voice or sound.
The organ's lowest pipes give the hymn tremendous depth.
His speaking voice had a warm depth that put listeners at ease.
Similarlowness
Oppositeshrillness
- 9The number of simple elements that an abstract concept includes; its comprehension or content.
- 10In aeronautics, the perpendicular distance from the chord of an arched surface, such as an aircraft wing, to the farthest point of its curve; also called camber.
- 11The lower of a value's two ranks when counting inward from each end of an ordered set.
- 12A set of two or more ciphertexts that have been enciphered with the same key.
- 13In horology, a pair of toothed wheels that mesh and work together.
- 14In ring theory, an invariant of rings and modules that encodes information about their dimensionality.
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English depthe, going back to Old English *dīepþ and Proto-Germanic *diupiþō, and equivalent to "deep" plus the abstract noun suffix "-th". It is related to words like Dutch diepte, German Low German Deepde, and Swedish djup, all meaning "depth".
Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- Depth descends from Middle English depthe, reconstructed Old English *dīepþ, and Proto-Germanic *diupiþō. en.wiktionary.org
- Depth is equivalent to deep plus the abstract noun suffix -th. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch diepte is related to depth and means depth. en.wiktionary.org
- German Low German Deepde is related to depth and means depth. en.wiktionary.org
- Swedish djup is etymologically related to depth. en.wiktionary.org
- Swedish djup can mean depth, as do the Dutch and Low German words listed. en.wiktionary.org