nether

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by WingerBot (talk | contribs) as of 01:02, 5 October 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: nether-

English

WOTD – 27 October 2010

Lua error in Module:interproject at line 62: Parameter "dab" is not used by this template.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /nɛð.ə/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /nɛð.ɚ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛðə(r)

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English nether, nethere, nithere, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English niþera (“lower, under, lowest”, adjective), from niþer, niþor (“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”, adverb), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *niþer, *niþra (“down”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *ni-, *nei- (“in, down”); akin to Old Saxon adjective nithiri (“nether”), adverb nithar (“down”), Old High German adjective nidari, nidaro (“nether”), adverb nidar (“down”) (see German nieder), Old Dutch nither (see Dutch neder) Old Norse adjective neðri, neðarri (“nether”), adverb niðr (“down”); all from a (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "gem" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. word that is a comparative of a word akin to Sanskrit नि (ni, “down”), Albanian nën (“under, in”).

Adjective

nether (comparative nethermore, superlative nethermost)

  1. Lower; under.
    The disappointed child’s nether lip quivered.
  2. Lying beneath, or conceived as lying beneath, the Earth’s surface.
    The nether regions.
    • 1873, Mark Twain, The Gilded Age, page187:
      When one thinks of the tremendous forces of the upper and the nether world which play for the mastery of the soul of a woman during the few years in which she passes from plastic girlhood to the ripe maturity of womanhood,
Synonyms
Derived terms

Template:mid2

Translations

Adverb

nether (comparative more nether, superlative most nether)

  1. Down; downward.
  2. Low; low down.

Etymology 2

Alteration of earlier nither, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English nitheren, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English niþerian (“to depress, abase, bring low, humiliate, oppress, accuse, condemn”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English niþer (“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”). See above.

Alternative forms

Verb

nether (third-person singular simple present nethers, present participle nethering, simple past and past participle nethered)

  1. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To bring or thrust down; bring or make low; lower; abase; humble.
  2. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To constrict; straiten; confine; restrict; suppress; lay low; keep under; press in upon; vex; harass; oppress.
  3. (transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To pinch or stunt with cold or hunger; check in growth; shrivel; straiten.
  4. (transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To shrink or huddle, as with cold; be shivery; tremble.
  5. (transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To depreciate; disparage; undervalue.
Derived terms

Noun

nether (plural nethers)

  1. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Oppression; stress; a withering or stunting influence.
  2. (mining) A trouble; a fault or dislocation in a seam of coal.

Anagrams

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=nether&oldid=54690771"