underneath

English

Etymology

From Middle English undernethe, undernethen, from Old English underneoþan (“underneath”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *underniþer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌndəˈniːθ/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ʌndɚˈniθ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ʌndɚˈniθ/, /ʌndɚˈnið/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːθ, -iːð

Adverb

underneath (not comparable)

1. Below; in a place beneath.
   • 1825, Isaac Taylor, Scenes of British Wealth: In Produce, Manufactures, and Commerce, for the Amusement and Instruction of Little Tarry At-home Travellers‎^[1]:

     connected with it underneath, you see a very fine hair-spring.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. On the underside or lower face.
   • 1832, Georges Cuvier, translated by Edward Griffith, edited by Georges Cuvier, Edward Pidgeon, and Edward Griffith, The Animal Kingdom: Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization‎^[2], volume 14, published 2012, →ISBN:

     No insects exhibit, like them, what may be termed four net-work eyes. It is very easy to perceive them in looking at the animal from above, and then examining it underneath

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

below; in a place beneath

• Arabic: تَحْت (ar) (taḥt), أَسْفَل (ʔasfal)
• Bulgarian: долу (dolu)
• Catalan: sota (ca)
• Chamicuro: yajkana
• Chickasaw: nota'
• Esperanto: malsupre
• Faliscan: ifra (ifra)
• Finnish: alla (fi), alapuolella (fi)
• French: dessous (fr)
• German: unten (de)
• Hungarian: alatt (hu)
• Irish: ar íochtar
• Latin: subtus, subter
• Navajo: bitłʼáahgi, bitłʼáahdi, biyaagi, biyaadi
• Polish: pod spodem
• Portuguese: abaixo (pt)
• Romanian: sub (ro)
• Spanish: abajo (es)
• Turkish: altında (tr), altı (tr)

on the underside or lower face of

• Arabic: تَحْت (ar) (taḥt), أَسْفَل (ʔasfal)
• Bulgarian: отдолу (bg) (otdolu)
• Catalan: sota (ca)
• Chickasaw: nota'
• Finnish: alla (fi), alapuolella (fi)
• German: unten (de)
• Middle Low German: under, undene, dāle, nēden
• Polish: pod spodem
• Spanish: por debajo

Preposition

underneath

1. Under, below, beneath.

   Underneath the water, all was calm.

   We flew underneath the bridge.

   We looked underneath the table.

2. Under the control or power of.

   There was little freedom underneath the jackboot.

Derived terms

• get underneath someone's skin
• underneath one's breath

 

Translations

under, below, beneath

• Arabic: تَحْت (ar) (taḥt), أَسْفَل (ʔasfal)
• Bulgarian: под (bg) (pod)
• Catalan: sota (ca)
• Chickasaw: nota'
• Czech: pod (cs)
• Finnish: alla (fi), alta (fi), alle (fi), alapuolella (fi), alapuolelta (fi), alapuolelle (fi)
• French: en dessous (fr), dessous (fr), sous (fr)
• German: unterhalb (de)
• Hindi: नीचे (hi) (nīce)
• Irish: faoi bhun
• Latin: sub (la) (+ acc. or abl.)
• Polish: pod (pl)
• Portuguese: por baixo (pt)
• Russian: (with instrumental or accusative) под (ru) (pod)
• Spanish: bajo (es)
• Tocharian B: ñor
• Turkish: alt (tr)

under the control or power of

• Catalan: sota (ca)
• Czech: vespod
• Finnish: alla (fi), alaisuudessa (fi)
• French: sous (fr)
• Portuguese: sob (pt)
• Russian: (with instrumental) под (ru) (pod)
• Spanish: bajo (es)
• Turkish: emri altında

Adjective

underneath (not comparable)

1. Under, lower.

   You can have the underneath bunk.

   • 1990, Stephen King, The Moving Finger:

     The mess in the kitchen was one thing. The way the place smelled was another—some sort of chemistry-lab stink on top, some other smell underneath it. He was afraid the underneath smell might be blood.

Translations

under, lower

• Bulgarian: долен (bg) (dolen)
• Chickasaw: nota'
• Finnish: alempi (fi), ala- (fi), alapuolinen (fi)
• French: du dessous m or f, d’en dessous m or f
• Hindi: नीचे (hi) (nīce)
• Turkish: altı (tr), alt kısmı

Noun

underneath (usually uncountable, plural underneaths)

1. The bottom of something.

   The underneath of the aircraft was painted blue.

   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter V, in Capricornia‎^[3], page 64:

     Nawnim yelped, heaved away, struck his head on the underneath of the bed, and rolled into view bawling.

   • 2002, Mary Ann Caws, Surrealist Painters and Poets: An Anthology‎^[4], page 229:

     It was a monolith of a golden color, opening at its base on to a cavern: its underneath was hollowed out by water.

   • 2010, Molly Brodak, A Little Middle of the Night‎^[5], page 13:

     I have been looking for an underneath I couldn't see.

   • 2011, Nigella Lawson, Nigella Express: Good Food Fast‎^[6]:

     they harden up a little as they cool, and they should be damp within; that's what makes them chewy, so don't worry that the underneaths of the macaroons look sticky.

2. A background radio sound track played during a specific announcement or program.
   • 2009, Jay Trachtenberg (radio host), KUT-FM Radio, Austin, Texas, 17 Dec.:

     The underneath is music from the latest album by [...].

Translations

the part under or lower

• Finnish: alapuoli (fi), alaosa (fi)
• French: dessous (fr) m
• Hindi: निचला (hi) (niclā)
• Polish: spód (pl) m, dół (pl) m
• Russian: ни́жняя сторона́ f (nížnjaja storoná)
• Spanish: bajos (es) m pl (in cars)
• Turkish: altı (tr)

background sound track

• Finnish: tunnussävel, tunnari (fi)

References

• “underneath”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “underneath”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• unadherent