undervalue

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí

Proto-Indo-European *-ér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér

Proto-Germanic *under

Proto-West Germanic *undar

Old English under-

Middle English under-

English under-

English value

English undervalue

From under- + value.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌʌndə(ɹ)ˈvælju/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

undervalue (third-person singular simple present undervalues, present participle undervaluing, simple past and past participle undervalued)

1. (transitive) To underestimate, or assign too low a value to (something or someone); to have too little regard for.

   Coordinate term: underprice

   Near-synonyms: underrate, underappreciate, underween

   • 1674 (date written), John Dryden, “The Authors Apology for Heroique Poetry; and Poetique Licence”, in The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man: An Opera. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1677, →OCLC, page 23:

     I write not this with the leaſt intention to undervalue the other parts of Poetry: for Comedy is both excellently inſtructive, and extreamly pleaſant: […]

   • 1706 September 19 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), Francis Atterbury, “A Sermon Preach’d in the Guild-Hall Chapel, London, Sept. 28. 1706. Being the Day of the Election of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.”, in Fourteen Sermons Preach’d on Several Occasions. […], London: […] E. P. [Edmund Parker?] for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1708, →OCLC, page 403:

     […] I undervalu'd all the Enſigns of Authority which belong'd to me, all the Pomp and Splendor of Life which^{[sic – meaning with]} which I was ſurrounded.

Derived terms

• undervaluement
• undervaluer
• undervaluingly

Translations

to underestimate

• Bulgarian: подценявам (bg) (podcenjavam)
• Czech: podhodnotit, podcenit (cs)
• German: unterbewerten (de), unterschätzen (de)
• Manx: meephrios
• Romanian: subestima (ro), subevalua (ro)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} subvalorar, ^{(please verify)} subvaluar
• Swedish: undervärdera (sv)

See also

• underpriced

Noun

undervalue (plural undervalues)

1. An undervaluation; a price or rate below the actual worth.
   • 1938, Law Reporter, volume 158, page 132:

     […] he must therefore prove that the contract was not at such an undervalue as would amount to fraud […]