under

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʌn.də/ (UK); /ˈʌn.dɚ/ (US)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English under, inherited from Old English under (“beneath, among, in subjection to”),^[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *under-,^[3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *n̥dher- (“under”).^[6][3][7] Its cognates include Dutch onder, German unter, Old Norse undir and Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂 (undar),^[3][5] and outside Germanic Latin infrā (“below”), inferus (“lower”) and Sanskrit अधः (adháḥ, “below”).^[3][8][9] Old English under also meant “between, among”, as still in the phrase “under these circumstances”;^[3][10] Barnhart, Klein and Weekley derive this sense from a different root, the one in Latin inter (“between”),^[11][8][10] and Etymonline allows that it may be so.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Beneath, below; in subjection to (Old English, about 725, in Beowulf).^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

The notion of being inferior in rank or position was already present in Old English.^[3] Under was productive as a prefix, often forming words modelled on Latin ones in sub-, and Middle English had more than 200 words with it.^[3] With reference to standards, “less than in age, price or value”, it dates from the late 14th century.^[3][12] The adjective, “lower in position or rank”, appears in the 13th century,^[3][13] and the Shorter Oxford explains it as detached from compounds on the model of over.^[14] Figurative phrases include under one's wing (early 13th century), under one's nose (1540s), under one's hat, secret (1885), and under one's belt, first literally of food or drink (1839).^[3] Down under, in the Antipodes, is recorded from 1899,^[15] and under, unconscious or anaesthetized, from the 1930s.^[12][14]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English under, in Beowulf.^[11]
• early 13th century – under someone's wing.^[3]
• 13th century – as an adjective.^[3][13]
• late 14th century – less than.^[3]
• 1540s – under one's nose.^[3]
• 1731 – unders, underclothes.^[15]
• 1885 – under one's hat.^[3]
• 1899 – down under.^[15]
• 1930s – unconscious, under anaesthetic.^[12]

Modern meaning

Preposition

1. In or to a position below or beneath: under the bed.
2. Beneath the surface or cover of: under water.
3. Less than: under forty years.
4. Lower in rank than; subject to the authority or control of: served under the general.
5. Undergoing or affected by: under pressure or under repair.
6. In accordance with; within the category of: under the terms of the contract or under theology.
7. Using as a name: under an assumed name.
8. Planted with: a field under corn.

Adverb

1. In or into a lower position; below or beneath.
2. Less than a quantity or limit.
3. Into subjection or unconsciousness: put the patient under.
4. Down to defeat or ruin: businesses going under.

Adjective

1. Lower; beneath something.
2. Lower in rank; subordinate.
3. Less than is required.

Word family

• hereunder
• thereunder
• underbody
• underclothes
• undercover
• undereye
• underhand

Related words

• over
• infra
• inferior
• infernal
• understand
• underneath

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
13. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
14. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press