under

Forms

under^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *undar, from Proto-Germanic *under (“under, among”).^[1][2] It has cognates in Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂 (undar), Old Norse undir, Old Frisian under, Old Saxon undar and Old High German untar.^[2][3][4]

Kroonen explains the Germanic word as the merger of two Indo-European prepositions: Proto-Indo-European *(H)ndʰer- (“below”), seen in the Sanskrit and Avestan words for “lower”, and *h₁n-tér (“between”), seen in Latin inter and Old Irish eter.^[2] The merger accounts for the two meanings “under” and “among”.^[2] Wiktionary puts the merger down to Verner's law.^[1] Holthausen and Köbler give only the first source, comparing Latin īnfrā (“below”) and Sanskrit अधस् (adhás, “below”).^[4][3] Orel compares only the words for “between”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in the Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹), where under haehnisse glosses Latin “sub cono”, “under the peak”.^[6][7] In the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century it renders Latin “sub” in “All ðu underdeodes under fotum his” (“Thou hast put all things under his feet”).^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

With the dative under marks position: below the heavens or a tree, supported by something (a horse under its rider, a ship under sail, a warrior under his helmet), or at the foot of something, as the boat under beorge in Beowulf.^[9][10] With the accusative it marks motion to a place beneath.^[9][10] The poems use it in formulas like under wolcnum “under the clouds”, that is, on earth.^[10]

The preposition also meant among, in the presence of, under the shelter of, and subject to someone's rule, and of time it meant during.^[11] One swore under God “by God”, and in Alfred's laws under godas is to swear by idols.^[11][12] As an adverb it meant beneath.^[11] It continued as Middle English under, now English under.^[13][14]

Timeline

• s. ix¹ – under haehnisse glossing “sub cono” in the Corpus Glossary.^[6][7]
• s. ix med. – under fotum his “under his feet” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[8][7]
• 890×897 – Ne scyle nan mon blæcern ælan under mittan “no one should light a lamp under a bushel” in the Pastoral Care.^[15][7]
• s. x/xi – under wolcnum and under helme in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][10]
• Middle English – Middle English under as preposition and adverb.^[13]

Meanings

Preposition

1. with the dative: under, beneath, at the foot of.^[9][11]
2. with the accusative: to a place under.^[9][10]
3. among, in the presence of.^[11]
4. under the shelter of; in subjection to, under the rule of.^[11][12]
5. of time: during.^[11][3]
6. by, by means of; in oaths, by.^[11]

Adverb

1. beneath, below.^[9][11][10]

Word family

• underþēodan
• underfōn
• understandan
• undergietan
• underniman
• underbæc

Descendants

• Middle English under (→ English under; Scots unner)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 559
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. under
4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 376
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 434
6. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
7. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1096
10. ^ a b c d e f Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. under
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 372
12. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 227
13. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344