under

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See also under-

Contents

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English under, from Proto-Germanic *under (whence also German unter, Dutch onder, Danish under), from a merger of Proto-Indo-European *n̥dʰér (“under”) and *n̥tér (“inside”). Akin to Old High German untar (“under”), Latin infra (“below, beneath”). More at infra-

Preposition[edit]

under (1)

under

  1. In or at a lower level than.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1
      The little boys in the front bedroom had thrown off their blankets and lay under the sheets.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, The China Governess[1]:
      Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall.  Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.
  2. As a subject of; subordinate to.
    • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, BBC Sport:
      He was then denied by a magnificent tackle from captain Terry as Liverpool continued to press - but Chelsea survived as the memories of the nightmare under Villas-Boas faded even further into the background.
    • 2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, Guardian:
      Dati launched a blistering attack on the prime minister, François Fillon, under whom she served as justice minister, accusing him of sexism, elitism, arrogance and hindering the political advancement of ethnic minorities.
    He served in World War II under General Omar Bradley.
  3. Less than.
  4. Below the surface of.
  5. (figuratively) In the face of; in response to (some attacking force).
    • 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France [2]
      England's World Cup dreams fell apart under a French onslaught on a night when their shortcomings were brutally exposed at the quarter-final stage.
    to collapse under stress; to give in under interrogation

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

in a lower level than
subject of
less than
beneath the surface of
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Adverb[edit]

under (not comparable)

  1. In a way lower or less than
    • (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  2. In a way inferior to
    • (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

In a way lower or less than
In a way inferior to

Adjective[edit]

under (comparative more under, superlative most under)

  1. Being lower; being beneath something.
    • 1835, J G. Peters, A treatise on equitation, or the art of horsemanship, page 179:
      The advantages he gains are of double security to him ; first, by the support of his haunches, being at all times more under than before, he learns to be more active with his hind-quarters
    • 1908, Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, The American golfer, volume 1-2, page 10: 
      If you allow the right hand to turn under more than the left, a pull will result, and if the left is more under than the right, a sliced ball will surely follow.
    • 2009, Doris Lessing, Briefing for a Descent Into Hell, page 30:
      The waves are so steep, they crash so fast and furious I'm more under than up.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms
See also: under-

References[edit]

  • Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Statistics[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: /onər/, [ɔnˀɐ]

Adverb[edit]

under

  1. under

Preposition[edit]

under

  1. under
  2. underneath
  3. below
  4. during

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse undr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: /onər/, [ɔnˀɐ]

Noun[edit]

under n (singular definite underet, plural indefinite undere)

  1. wonder
  2. marvel
  3. miracle
Inflection[edit]
    Inflection of under
neuter gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative under underet undere underne
genitive unders underets underes undernes

Etymology 3[edit]

Short form of any compound with the preposition under.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: /onər/, [ɔnɐ]

Noun[edit]

under c (singular definite underen, plural indefinite undere)

  1. bottom (part)
Inflection[edit]
    Inflection of under
common gender Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative, dative and accusative under underen undere underne
genitive unders underens underes undernes

Latin[edit]

Verb[edit]

under

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of undō

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under.

Preposition[edit]

under

  1. below; beneath
  2. during

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse undr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love”).

Noun[edit]

under

  1. wonder, marvel, miracle

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under.

Preposition[edit]

under

  1. below; beneath
  2. during

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse undr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love”).

Noun[edit]

under n (definite singular underet; indefinite plural under; definite plural undera)

  1. wonder, marvel, miracle

References[edit]

  • “under” in The Nynorsk Dictionary – Dokumentasjonsprosjektet.

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *under. Compare Old Saxon undar, Old High German untar.

Preposition[edit]

under

  1. under

Descendants[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse undir, from Proto-Germanic *under.

Pronunciation[edit]

Preposition[edit]

under

  1. under; below; beneath
  2. during, at the same time as
    Under lektionen pratade de hela tiden
    During the lesson, they talked all the time

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse undr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to wish for, desire, strive for, win, love”).

Noun[edit]

under n

  1. wonder, miracle
    Undrens tid är inte förbi.
    The age of miracles isn't over.

Declension[edit]

Declension of under
singular plural
Neuter indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative under undret under undren
genitive unders undrets unders undrens

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

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