| 释义 |
▪ I. under-, prefix1|ˈʌndə(r)|
representing OE. under-, = OS. undar-, OHG. untar-, ON. undir-, etc. (see under prep.). In OE. about eighty words with this prefix are recorded, but only fifteen or sixteen of these are of frequent occurrence. Of the total number about fifty are verbs, and twenty-five nouns, the adjectives being few and rare. In OHG. there are also many examples both of verbs and nouns, in ON. of nouns only; on the other hand there are few recorded examples in OS., and none in Gothic.
2. In OE. (as in OHG.) a considerable number of the compounds with under- were clearly suggested by Latin forms with sub- (suc-, etc.) and occur only as renderings of these, e.g. underberan, supportare, sustinere; underbéᵹed, subjectus; underbrǽdan, -breᵹdan, substernere; undercerrende, subvertens; undercuman, subvenire. The frequency of such forms no doubt contributed greatly to establish the vogue of the prefix in ordinary use. The practice of rendering L. sub- by under- is extensively followed in the earlier Wycliffite version of the Bible, and gives rise to a large number of unique or unusual forms, as underburn, -cry, -drench, -grow, -heave, -hile, -join, -laugh, -lead, -minister, -mow, etc., which are illustrated below, together with some others occurring in the anonymous translation of the Pauline Epistles. Similar examples are occasionally found in other ME. translated texts, as underorn, -slake (q.v.), after L. subornare, summitigare.
1382Wyclif Nahum ii. 13 And Y shal *vndre brenne [L. succendam] thi cartis of foure horsis.
― Gen. xxxix. 14 Whanne Y hadde *vndercried [L. succlamassem],..he forsoke the mantil that I heelde. ― Luke xxiii. 21 Thei vndircryeden [L. succlamabant], seyinge, Crucifie, crucifie him.
― Exod. xv. 10 The see couerde hem; and thei ben *vnder dreynt [L. submersi] as leed in hidows watris.
a1400Pauline Ep. (Powell) Gal. ii. 4 Þe false breþerene þe whyche *vndyrentredyn [L. subintroierunt] to spye oure freenesse þat we hafe in iesu crist.
1382Wyclif Gen. xxvi. 13 He ȝede profytynge and *vndurgrowynge [L. succrescens] to the tyme that he was maad hugeli greet.
― Exod. xxiii. 5 If thow se an asse of hym that hatith thee lye vnder the charge,..thow shalt *vnderheue [L. sublevabis] with hym.
― Num. xii. 14 Whether shulde she not..seuen days with reednes be *vnder⁓hilid [L. suffundi]?
― Ps. Prol., Heer also is taȝt..what bi penaunce be purchasid, whan he *vnderioyneth, ‘I shal teche wicke men thi weies’.
― Ecclus. xiii. 7 And *vnder laȝhende [L. subridens] hope he shal ȝyue, tellende to thee alle goodes.
― Ezek. xxiii. 3 There the breestis..of hem ben *vndirled [L. subacta].
― Ecclus. xxxix. 39 Alle the werkes of the Lord [are] good; and ech werk in his hour shal *vndermynestren [L. subministrabit]. ― 1 Tim. v. 10 If she vndirmynistride to men suffringe tribulacioun.
a1400Pauline Ep. (Powell) Eph. iv. 16 On whom alle þe body is..knyt to gydere by alle þe ioynture of *vndermynystracion [L. subministrationis].
1382Wyclif Ps. xxxiv. 16 Thei *vndermouwiden [L. subsannaverunt] me with vnder⁓mouwing.
― Rom. Prol., He writeth therfore to the Romaynes, the whiche..wolden with proud contencioun *vnderpoten either other.
― Gen. xxvii. 36 Now secounde he hath *vnder rauyshide [L. surripuit] my benysoun.
― 1 Sam. ii. 7 The Lord..mekith, and *vndurrerith [L. sublevat].
― Acts xxvii. 4 We *vndirsailiden [L. subnavigavimus] to Cypre, for that wyndis weren contrarie.
― Acts xxvii. 17 The vessel *vndirsent [L. summisso], so thei were borun.
a1400Pauline Ep. (Powell) Col. ii. 19 Þe hed, of whom alle þe body is bildid in to one þurgh coniunccions and *vnderseruyd [L. subministratum] þurgh þe bondys of charite.
1382Wyclif Eph. iv. 16 Al the body sett to gidere, and boundyn to gidere by ech ioynture of *vndir⁓seruyng [L. subministrationis].
― Deut. xxxii. 22 Fier is *vndurtent [L. succensus] in my woodnes. ― Ps. xvii. 9 Colis ben vndertend of hym.
― Dan. viii. 3 Oo wether..hauynge heeȝ horns, and oon heeȝer than an other, and *vndrewexinge [L. succrescens].
― 1 Sam. Prol., Fro thens thei *vndurweuyden Sophym, that is, the book of Jugis.
― Gen. xxvii. 37 Alle his britheren I haue *vndir ȝockid [L. subjugavi] to the seruyce of hym. ― Nehemiah v. 5 We han vnder ȝokid our sonus and oure doȝtris in to seruage.
3. In combination both with verbs and with nouns various senses of the prefix were already developed in OE., and further variations have arisen in the later language, the starting-point for new developments being usually the Elizabethan period. In most of its senses under- can be freely employed to form new compounds, the meaning of which is obvious except when they are used in some special or technical connexion. In some of these general types under- is correlative to over-, and not infrequently the actual compound in under- is entirely due to the previous use of one in over-.
In the following sections a number of the more casual formations are given by way of illustration; those which have a more permanent character, or which for some reason require special treatment, are entered in their alphabetical places as main words. The uses which are most capable of giving rise to new formations, of which complete enumeration is impossible, are 4 a, 5, 6, 9, 10 a, b. Altogether the senses of the prefix may be classed under four heads:— I. Denoting local position.
4. With verbs. The following variations are found in OE. and in the later language:
a. Denoting action (or continuance of a state) carried on under or beneath something, as OE. underberan to support from below, underdelfan to dig beneath, underetan to eat away, to sap, underiernan to run beneath, etc., ME. undercut, -dig, -grow, -hole, -mine, -pitch, -shore, -strew, and the later underbind, -brace, -build, -gird, -hew, etc.
b. Denoting the action of moving so as to be or to get under something, as OE. underflówan to flow under, underhníᵹan to descend beneath, underscéotan to pass under; ME. undercreep; also with causative force, as OE. underbreᵹdan to spread under, underdón to put under, understingan, to thrust under, ME. underput, -set. Additions to this group are not frequent in the later language, but occur in undercrawl, -dive, -run, -work, and with slight variation of sense in underpeep, -peer.
c. Rarely, the sense of ‘from below’ is found, as in underpeep, redden, -shine.
In the dictionaries of Florio (1611) and Hexham (1647), under- is used in the above senses to form a number of compounds which are merely suggested by Italian forms in sog-, sop-, sot(to)- and Dutch in onder-, as underbend, -knit, -loft, -mark, -note, -roof (Florio), underfume, -gripe, -lift, -press, -smoke (Hexham). In addition to verbs, the following miscellaneous examples include instances of the ppl. adj. and agent-noun.
c1900Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VIII. 142 (Cent. Suppl.), The building is very solidly built, but *undercellared only.
1890J. Nasmith Cotton Spinning Mach. x. 148 The ‘*under clearer’ spring is attached to the roller beam. 1892― Students' Cotton Spinning ix. 329 An underclearer D′, is sustained below the bottom front rollers.
1883A. Dobson Old-World Idylls, Dead Letter iii, Bonzes with squat legs *undercurled.
1828–32Webster, *Underditch, v.t., to form a deep ditch or trench to drain the surface of land.
1904Nature 13 Oct. 593/2 An *underfolded and underthrust knot of younger strata.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Under-grub, to undermine.
1808Coleridge Lett., to T. Jeffrey (1895) 537 When I first wrote it I *undermarked it.
1839Q. Rev. LXIII. 415 No accuracy in *underpiling the platform is thus practicable.
1846tr. Port Royal Method Grk. Tongue 8 The three *under-pointed [Greek vowels], ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ.
1866G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 138 The meadows yellow with buttercups and *under-reddened with sorrel.
1864Kingsley Roman & T. p. liv, We shall believe not merely in an over-ruling Providence, but (if I may dare to coin a word) in an *under-ruling one.
1800J. Hurdis Fav. Village 132 Behold! where now he *undersaps the sward.
1846Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. I. 472/2 One hath fallen the moment when he had reached the last step of the ladder, having *undersawed it for him who went before.
1877Blackie Wise Men 119 The hidden working of the travelling fire That *underscoops the earth.
1879Lanier Poems, To B. Taylor 2 To range, deep-wrapt, along a heavenly height, O'erseeing all that man but *undersees.
1885W. K. Parker Mammalian Descent vii. 169 We have a..ploughshare bone large and long in proportion to the..beam which it *under⁓splices.
1889Voice (N.Y.) 28 Nov., A pure serious aim *undersweeps his work and comes out in it like a transfiguration.
1893Amer. Jrnl. Sci. XLV. 306 (heading), *Underthrust Folds and Faults.
d. A noun of action with under- may have the same form as the verb, as undercut, -gnaw, -hang, -lay, -lie, -lift, -mine, -run, -score, -spin, -thrust.
1895J. J. Raven Hist. Suffolk 1 The coast line has suffered, and still suffers, from the constant undergnaw of the German Ocean.
5. With nouns:
a. In names of garments worn under other articles of clothing, found in OE. underhwítel, -syrc, but not common till the 16th century, when undercap, -forebody, -frock, -garment, -girdle, -sleeve occur. The following are examples of recent or less usual compounds.
Contrasted with over 8 c, and in modern use sometimes replaced by sub- 3.
1873Young Englishwoman Apr. 194/1 (heading) *Under⁓bodice of jaconet, insertion, and lace. 1895Daily News 24 Dec. 6/3 The chiffon under-bodice being visible between the two sides.
1611Florio, Sottomanto, an *vnder-cloake, a Cassocke.
1894‘G. Egerton’ Keynotes 177 They [sc. trousers] ruck up at the knees, and show the end line of his *under-drawers quite plainly.
1859Habits of Gd. Society iii. 144, I should like to know how often the advocates of linen change their own *under-flannel.
1960‘E. McBain’ See them Die (1963) iii. 28 Murchison..tugged at his *undershorts, and wondered if it was any cooler upstairs. 1978W. F. Buckley Stained Glass xii. 129 She had opened the door, exhilarated at the prospect of seeing Paul lying there as she so regularly came on him, dressed only in his undershorts.
1922Joyce Ulysses 321 The bride..looked exquisitely charming in a creation carried out in green mercerised silk, moulded on an *underslip of gloaming grey. 1968B. Hines Kestrel for Knave 23 His mother was standing in her underslip, a lipstick poised at her mouth.
1857in A. V. G. Allen Life Phillips Brooks (1900) I. vi. 209 Thick winter *underwaists and socks. a1911D. G. Phillips in Hearst's Mag. (1916) Feb. 137/1 She bought a pair of shoes for a dollar,..two underwaists for a quarter.
b. Denoting that the thing specified is either placed below something else, or is the lower in position of two similar things; the two cases are only clearly distinguishable when it is usual for the things to go in pairs. The use is very rare in OE. and ME., but begins to extend in the 16th century and is common from the 17th. When pairs of things are contrasted, under- becomes equivalent to lower (as over- to upper), and readily assumes an adjectival function: see under a. 1 b.
1878P. H. Carpenter in Quart. Jrnl. Microsc. Sc. XVIII. 366, I shall shortly show that these second or *under basals are also present in the calyx of Pentacrinus briareus.
1889Science-Gossip XXV. 261/1 A starling was found..having its *under-beak evidently shot off.
1611Cotgr., Soupoultreau, an *vnder-beame.
1862in Veness El Dorado (1866) App. 140 An *under-box for a pump.
1707Mortimer Husb. 363 To rub off all the *Under-buds, leaving only a few near the top to draw up the Sap.
1738Chambers Cycl. s.v. Letter, Printers distinguish their letters into capital..or upper-case letters,..and minuscule, small, or *under-case letters.
1890J. Nasmith Cotton Spinning Mach. Index, *Undercasings for carding machine. 1892― Students' Cotton Spinning iv. 112 The relative position of the..knives and undercasing.
1690C. Nesse O. & N. Test. I. 23 If the outside and the *underceiling..of this glorious room be so glittering.
1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 7 Many of these smugglers had *under-cellars in their houses of concealment.
1611Florio, Sotto camera, an *vnder-chamber.
1906Galsworthy Man of Property i. iii. 44 Between the points of his stand-up collar,..the pale flesh of his *underchin remained immovable. 1978J. A. Michener Chesapeake 19 The geese [had]..jet-black head and neck, snow-white under-chin.
1805Wordsw. Prel. vi. 227 Her exulting outside look of youth And placid *under-countenance.
1852Mrs. Craik Agatha's Husb. xx. 281 He took out a paper,..tore it open—tore likewise an *under-cover addressed to his wife.
1845M. Pattison S. Langton in Lives Eng. Saints vii. 124 A more honourable place..than the damp and dark *undercrypt.
1611Florio, Sottotazza, an *vnder-cup of essay.
1897Daily News 1 Jan. 6/6 After a diver has been down to examine the *under-fittings of the Delta.
1611Cotgr., Beisle, th' Orelop, or *vnder-hatches, of a ship.
1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxxv, There were tears hanging..on the long jet *under-lashes.
1841Florist's Jrnl. (1846) II. 266 They are natives of the table land of Mexico,..wholly below the *underlimit of frost.
1611Florio, Sopalco, an *vnder-loft, or sellar, or seeling.
1895Archæol. æliana XVII. ii. 287 It has apparently been moved..for use as an *underpacking when the Early English arcade was built.
1855Poultry Chron. II. 498 How again can they avoid mistakes when half the birds are hidden in dark *under-pens?
1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 402 The Pedestal or *Under-Pilaster.
1871tr. Schellen's Spectr. Anal. xxv. 87 This micrometer consists..of a sliding-plate,..[and] an *under⁓plate on which the first plate travels.
1598Florio, Sopportico, an *vnderporch.
1839Carlyle Lett. (1904) I. 158 Chorley's under jaw went like the hopper or *under-riddle..of a pair of fanners.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 234 *Under-rope [= S-rope, the winding rope which passes round the under side of the drum].
Ibid. 268 *Under-seams, lower or deeper coal seams.
1733W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 128 The Drip of their Heads falling upon their *Under-shoots.
1883F. Day Indian Fish 28 Where large *under-sluices are present, fish can pass up such when open.
1843Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. VI. 265/2 A cross sheth..to be bolted down to the *undersole.
1877Ruskin St. Mark's Rest iv. (1894) 49 With such solid *under-support that, from 1480 till now, it stands rain and frost!
1902Westm. Gaz. 29 Jan. 9/2 A large Government order for 2,100 *undertrucks and 150 complete wagons.
1822J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 150 note, Attached to an operculum, or *undervalve.
c. Denoting position below a surface or covering, or at a depth. Examples of this occur from the 17th century, but are not common until the 19th.
1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. i. 26, I hope that the *under⁓bottom ice exceeds that height.
1892Meredith Poet. Wks. (1912) 325 There chimed a bubbled *underbrew With witch⁓wild spray of vocal dew.
1894Crockett Raiders (ed. 3) 286 The rippling tide..swirling in the smooth places with an oily *underbubble.
1930Engineering 15 Aug. 197/3 The [U.S.] War Department.. imposed the limiting conditions of 100 feet *under⁓clearance above the level of mean high water. 1967Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems 1967–68 64/1 Riser bars may be used, depending on load underclearance.
1869J. Martineau in Life (1902) I. 446 How curiously the religious tendency..finds an *under⁓course, and breaks out at unexpected points!
a1930D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 7 As if any Mind could have imagined a lobster dozing the *under-deeps.
1858Caswall Poems 192 Up from the *underdepth unsearchable of primal Being.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 257 Hour after hour..we passed on, in the *under-gloom of the great forest.
1885Mabel Collins Ld. Vanecourt's Dan. I. vi. 80 The light..brought out a warm *underglow in her hair.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Under-grup, an under-drain; a concealed water course in wet soils.
1611Florio, Sotto⁓stanza, an *vnder-lodging.
1913― Love Poems & Others 27 And even in the watery shells that lie Alive within the oozy *under-mire, A grain of this same fire I can descry.
1943Mind LII. 135 These instincts or reflexes are the second point of contact where behaviour science, factually though not methodologically, rests upon its biological *understructure. 1980Dædalus Spring 99 Stories about dreams..often deliberately obfuscate the understructure of common sense.
1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. xv. §2 The most fantastic..curves, governed by some grand *under-sweep like that of a tide.
1899B. Capes Lady of Darkness xviii. 151 There must be *underwarmth somewhere for the surface so to flower into colour.
d. Denoting something which is either covered (completely or partially) by, or is subordinate to, something of the same kind. An early example of this is underwood (1325), followed by undergrowth, -shrub (c 1600). Other examples are mostly of recent date, and show considerable extension of the usage, as in underfleece, -fur, -marking, etc.
1873E. Spon Workshop Receipts Ser. i. 420/1 The colour should be a trifle darker than the undergraining. 1901Smithsonian Rep. 405 Where sheep have been allowed to graze..the under⁓vegetation is destroyed. 1909Mrs. Smith Lewis Codex Climaci Rescr. Introd. p. xiii, The under-script of a palimpsest is seldom homogeneous. 1914D. H. Lawrence in Eng. Rev. Feb. 305 And lamps like venturous glow-worms steal among The shadowy stubble of the under-dusk. 1916― Amores 137 Bright blue crops Surge from the under-dark to their ladder-tops. 1917― Look! We have come Through! 48 Over there is Russia—Austria, Switzerland, France, in a circle! I here in the undermist on the Bavarian road. Ibid. 120 Where the seed sinks in To the earth of the under-night Where all is silent. 1922― in Eng. Rev. June 509 Fishes, with their gold-red eyes, and green-pure gleam, and under-gold. 1923― Kangaroo i. 8 It..was like a whole country with towns and bays and darknesses. And all lying mysteriously within the Australian underdark, that peculiar lost, weary aloofness of Australia. 1929― Pansies 17 Twilight thick underdusk..While darkness submerges the stones. 1934T. S. Eliot Elizabethan Essays 190 What distinguishes poetic drama from prosaic drama is a kind of doubleness... The drama has an under-pattern, less manifest than the theatrical one.
e. With the sense of ‘situated on the under side’.
1888Century Mag. XXXVI. 703/1 Its head and back are blue, its throat and breast red, and its underfeathering white. 1902Cornish Naturalist Thames 45 The parti⁓coloured grey and yellow under-colouring of their wings.
II. Denoting inferiority in rank or importance.
6. a. With designations of persons, esp. of subordinate officers or officials. This use occurs in OE. in undercyning, -diacon, -ᵹeréfa, -ládtéow, -þéow, becomes common in ME., and is extensively employed from the latter part of the 16th century. The meaning is however as frequently expressed by sub- 5 a and 6.
Examples of under- prefixed to a term of general import are rare, but underman occurs in the 14th cent., underbeing, underfellow in the 16th, underswain in the 17th.
1751Eng. Gazetteer s.v. Preston, It..is governed by a mayor, recorder, 8 aldermen, 4 *under-aldermen.
1942M. Harcourt Parson in Prison 20 The whole school was assembled before the *underbosses. 1964Amer. Speech XXXIX. 305 Over each [Mafia] family presides a boss... Beneath the boss are an underboss, also known as sotto capo, and a consiglieri. 1972N.Y. Times Mag. 4 June 95 In the restructured family on which Joe Colombo solidified his hold as boss, another tantalizing figure emerged, Charles (Charlie Lemons) Mineo... Mineo has become a unique kind of underboss.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, *Under-Brigadier, Sou-Brigadier.
1611Cotgr., Soubchantre, an *vnder-chaunter..inferiour to the head Chaunter.
1857Livingstone Trav. (1861) 189 An imposing embassy from Masiko. It consisted of all his *underchiefs.
1888‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. ii, All the ‘lads’..had gone home for the night, with the exception of the *under-coachman.
1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 569 A Chief-Crier, Two *Under-Criers, Two Ushers.
1846Etheridge Syrian Churches 200 After which is read the Gospel in Syriac; an *underdeacon reading it in the vernacular Arabic.
1854Poultry Chron. I. 265/1 Some competent feeder to look after the whole, and see that the *under-feeders..are constantly at work.
1891Daily News 30 Nov. 6/6 The first footman..had an altercation with..an *under-footman.
1611Cotgr., Subministrateur,..an *vnder⁓furnisher, an inferior officer.
1876E. A. Abbott in Contemp. Rev. June 141 To serve him as *under-gamekeeper.
1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. (1710) 707 Edinburgh-Castle:..Master-Gunner,..6 *Under-Gunners.
1820Scott Abbot iv, The famous university of Leyden, where they lack an *underjanitor.
1611Florio, Sequestratore,..an *vnder⁓iudge, an arbitrator.
1898Atlantic Monthly LXXXII. 474 The cooks and the under-cooks, the laundresses, the *under⁓laundress.
1852Bailey Festus (ed. 5) 338 The more We feel of poesie do we become Like God in love and power,—*under⁓makers.
1818M. W. Shelley Frankenst. ii. (1897) 6 Twice I actually hired myself as an *under-mate in a Greenland whaler.
1976‘W. Trevor’ Children of Dynmouth ii. 42 The *under⁓matron, Miss Tomm, had come into the dormitory and asked him to come with her to the study.
1839J. Rogers Antipopopr. x. §2. 253 We read nothing in Holy Scripture about the submediation or the *undermediators.
1868Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxiii. 122 Rebecca was the *under-nurse.
1771Ledwich Antiq. Sarisb. 223 He joined himself to..a tallow-chandler, as an *underpartner with him in the business.
1648Hexham ii, Een Onder-Prioor, an *Vnder-Priour.
1818Moore Fudge Fam. Paris vi. 32 Friends, whom his Lordship keeps in store, As *under-saviours of the nation.
1614Selden Titles Honor 267 Earle, Churl, Thane, and *Underthane.
1559J. Aylmer Harborowe L 2 b, Then must the hyghe Shrife be his frende: And the *vnderthefe (vndershrife I should saye) his man.
1748W. Melmoth Fitzosborne Lett. lvi. (1749) II. 79 All that numerous *undertribe in the commonwealth of literature.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xiii, Just the post of *under-turnkey, for I understand there's a vacancy.
1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Sub-vicar, an *Under-Vicar.
1611Cotgr., Arriere-vasseur, an vnder-vassall; or, an *vnder⁓villaine.
1657J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 125 The ministers are Christs *under-vine-dressers.
1854Poultry Chron. I. 388/1 Abounding with game..which, by game-keepers and ‘*under-watchers’, was..rigorously preserved.
1880*Under-waiter [see landlord n. 4]. 1921E. M. Forster Let. 17 May in Hill of Devi (1953) 81 He worked like an under⁓waiter in a Soho restaurant.
b. With other nouns, in the sense of ‘subordinate, subsidiary, minor’. An early instance of this is underhelp (1579); others, such as underaccident, -action, -cause, -ministry, etc., occur in the 17th cent. In later use the tendency is to employ either sub- (see sub- 5 b, c, d) or an adjective, but A. Tucker Light Nat. (1768) has under-aim, -plan, -scheme, -society, -species, -stage.
1598Florio, Sottodistintione, an *vnder-distinction, or subdistinction.
1711Swift Jrnl. Stella 28 Apr. (1901) 203 All the *under-hints there are mine too.
1691Norris Pract. Disc. 205 The Desire of Happiness..governs all the *under⁓motions of the Man.
1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. v. 100 The Lathe and the Rape may represent the *undershires of the Heptarchic kingdom.
1648Hexham ii, Onder-vooght, *Under-tuterage, or *Under-wardship.
7. With verbs, denoting reduction to (or acceptance of) an inferior or subordinate standing. Chiefly OE., as underbíeᵹan to subject, underbúᵹan to submit, underþéodan to subject, subjugate; and ME., as undercast, -put, -thew. See also undershining, -sphere, -study, -sweat, -thrown.
Under- is rarely employed in the sense of sub- 9 (b); Florio (1611) has under-appoint rendering It. sottodelegare.
III. In figurative senses.
8. With verbs.
a. In OE., various secondary meanings of under- are represented by such verbs as under(be)ᵹinnan to begin or attempt, underfón to receive, underᵹietan, -niman, -standan to understand, undersécan to investigate. Several of these survive in ME., as underfo, underᵹete, -nim, -stand, underseche; and a few more are added, as underfind, -grope, -take. In later examples the sense is usually that of (secret) investigation, as underfeel, -look, -search, -watch, or of unobserved action, as underhear. In addition to the verbs some agent-nouns occur, as under-dealer, -plotter, -puller.
Florio (1611) renders It. sottosapere, -ridere by underknow, -smile.
b. From the end of the 16th cent. under- is used with verbs in the sense of ‘below (= at a lower rate than) another person’, as in underbid, -buy, -sell, -spend, -work.
c. Occasionally the sense is ‘to a point or degree below what is normal or customary’, as in undercooled, -hew.
d. Very rarely, subordinate action is implied, as in underlet = sublet.
9. With nouns, denoting actions, etc., which lie or are kept beneath the surface or in the background. An early instance is undercraft (c 1400); others occur from the 17th cent., as underdealing, -thought. Modern instances are chiefly of an individual character.
1857Heavysege Saul (1869) 421 Thine eyeballs roll, As if from some great *under-agitation.
1830Coleridge Church & State (1839) 274 A sort of *under-consciousness blends with our dreams.
1876T. Hardy Ethelberta xix, Simply an *underfeeling I have that [etc.].
1863Bp. S. Wilberforce in Life (1882) III. 100 The curious *under-history of Trench's appointment to the archbishopric.
1817Coleridge Biog. Lit. (1907) II. 207 There is a dull *underpain that survives the smart which it had aggravated.
1876Mrs. Whitney Sights & Ins. II. iii. 362 To me, who felt an *underpulse in all these things, there was a plain perception [etc.].
1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. viii. 206 Barring a certain common fund of information, like the command of language, etc., what the upper self knows the *under self is ignorant of, and vice versa. 1914W. De Morgan When Ghost meets Ghost ii. xvi. 662 This underself of hers may have vibrated in response to the strange hints he had thrown out.
1732Sir C. Wogan Let. to Swift 27 Feb., A very grave phiz that carried a wicked *undersneer.
1893Nation (N.Y.) 29 June 475/3 The effect is artistic, while the *undersuggestion is scientific.
1908H. James Spoils of Poynton p. xxiii, An air of comedy comparatively free from sharp *under⁓tastes. 1980R. B. Kitaj Artist's Eye (Nat. Gallery) 3 Their lives at the sinister heart of the Baudelairean city, the spell its compelling undertaste cast on them.
1805Wordsw. Prel. vi. 558 Something of stern mood, an *under-thirst Of vigour seldom utterly allayed.
b. With words denoting sound of a subdued or subordinate character, esp. when produced or perceived at the same time as a louder or more distinct sound. (See also underbreath, -song, -strain, -tone, -tune, -voice.)
1904E. Rickert Reaper 10 He could hear the *underbeat of the surf on the rocks.
1863Is. Williams Baptistery ii. xxiv. (1874) 102 Or deep Gregorian chaunt of plaintive *underchime.
1893E. H. Barker Wand. Southern Waters 43 That continuous *undercry of the iron tongues.
1815Scott Guy M. iv, She answered in the same tone of *under⁓dialogue.
1832J. P. Kennedy Swallow B. xxi, Ducks and geese,..with a sedate *under-gabble, like that of old burghers in conversation.
1892Meredith Poems, Spring 134 But now the common life has come;..The grasses one vast *underhum.
1859Mrs. Craik Romantic Tales 182 The low, woman's voice, whose *under-melody,..lost amidst the tempests of life, was now needed to soothe its ending.
a1835Mrs. Hemans Poems, Flowers & Music (1875) 572, I..caught an *under-music of lament in the stream's voice.
1876Meredith Beauch. Career I. iii. 39 He quoted sayings..in which neither his ear nor Wilmore's detected the *underring Stukely was famous for.
1874Lanier Poems, Corn 28 Fragmentary whispers, blown From *undertalks of leafy souls unknown.
1872T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree i. i, Dick Dewy..continued his tune in an *under-whistle.
IV. Denoting insufficiency or defect.
10. a. With verbs. From the latter part of the 16th cent., by contrast with over- 27, under- is prefixed to verbs to imply that the action falls below the usual or proper standard, and thus acquires the sense of ‘at too low a rate’, ‘too low’, ‘too little’, ‘insufficiently’. Early instances are underprize, -value, others of slightly later date are underbuy, -charge, -rate, -reckon, -sell, etc. Subsequently the use becomes extremely common, especially in the sense of ‘insufficiently, not enough’, as under-calculate, -emphasize, -fulfil, -graze, -react, -recover, etc., and occurs frequently with pa. pples. and ppl. adjs., as under-endowed, -equipped, -financed, -fulfilled, -funded, -garrisoned, -grazed, -gunned, -industrialized, -informed, -policed, -powered, -publicized, -researched, -stained, -stressed, etc. Examples of vbl. ns. (cf. b), as under-funding, -grazing etc. are also included in the following illustrations.
1885Pall Mall G. 14 Feb. 3/2 The..over-worked and *under-accommodated class of reporters.
1862Lond. Rev. 16 Aug. 141 Another baker will make his loaves originally of short weight, and will then *underbake them.
1901Scotsman 5 Mar. 7/8 *Under-ballasted vessels were..a source of danger to themselves.
Ibid., Accidents to British ships..due to *under-ballasting.
1882St. James' Gaz. 3 Apr. 5/2 The Cantabs were slightly *underboated this year.
1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Brewing, This is generally attributed to their *under-boiling their strong Worts.
1836Dickens Let. 8 Oct. (1965) I. 181 There really is not time, unless Hansard's people, have greatly *under⁓calculated the quantity sent. 1910Practitioner Feb. 152 Cough..is one of the..most significant symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis... It is too often undercalculated by the patient and his friends. 1983Platt's Oil Marketing Bull. 15 Aug. 1/1 It has been undercalculating its Windfall Tax payments.
1889Boy's Own Paper 3 Aug. 700/2 My boat being considerably *under-canvassed, the weather was rarely too bad for me to make a start.
1866Ecclesiologist XXVII. 220 The reproach usual in French provincial towns, of being lamentably *under-churched.
1737Waterland Eucharist 202 But there may be danger of *under-commenting, as well as of interpreting too high.
1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. xxxviii. 893 If the patient be allowed to eat vegetables, never send them up *undercooked.
1889Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 155 We lose the strength..by over-timing and *under-developing.
1778[W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric., Digest 134 Whose Farm is for ever under⁓stocked, *under-dunged, and under-tilled!
1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. vi. 393 He has been *under-educated,..and is not very brilliant.
1964Amer. Psychologist XIX. 14/2 If I have seemed to *underemphasize the importance of inner capacities..it is because I believe that this part of the story is given by the nature of man's evolution.
1909H. G. Wells Ann Veronica xvii. 344, I remarked that science was disgracefully *under-endowed, and confessed I'd had to take to more profitable courses. 1969N. W. Pirie Food Resources viii. 191 They are almost all under⁓endowed while money is squandered on projects with little bearing on the world's real needs.
1960Times Lit. Suppl. 2 Sept. 553/4 Our teenagers are cast out into the world with boredom as the only memory of their ill-disciplined, *under-equipped schooldays.
1923Daily Mail 30 Jan. 4 This Department is under-staffed, *under⁓financed, unprovided with many of the safeguards it has itself demanded. 1977M. Edelman Political Lang. v. 100 An under-financed and uncoordinated reaction to widespread destitution becomes a ‘war on poverty’.
1950A. Lee Soviet Air Force 77 Unlike the later Five Year Plans, the target for the first was ‘*underfulfilled’. 1964Ann. Reg. 1963 230 According to Premier S̄iroký..the plan as a whole had been underfulfilled by 1·2 per cent. 1982T. J. Binyon Swan Song v. 32 The professor..accused me..of consistently underfulfilling the department's norms in teaching, research and administration.
1970Nature 8 Aug. 551/2 It also suggests, perhaps intentionally, that the project is grossly *underfunded.
1963Economist 27 Apr. 342/1 Over-funding last year could be compensated by *under-funding this year. 1981Daily Tel. 17 Oct. 12/3 The continual underfunding of the Royal Shakespeare Company..was endangering its ability to..retain its talented staff.
1936Auden & Isherwood Ascent of F6 i. ii. 24 We're *under-garrisoned and under⁓policed and..we're in a blue funk that the Ostnians will come over the frontier.
1977J. L. Harper Population Biol. of Plants xiv. 438 Swards were overgrazed in winter and spring and *undergrazed in summer and autumn.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 71/1 Those swards which needed improvement were the *undergrazed type.
1933Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XCIV. 24 This plot was subjected to overstocking in winter and early spring, followed by gross *undergrazing during the summer and autumn. 1974Times 7 Jan. 12/3 To tear up large areas at once has led too often to undergrazing, drainage difficulties, [etc.].
1648T. Hill Spring of Grace 11 We are apt to overgrieve or *undergrieve at crosses.
1928C. F. S. Gamble Story North Sea Air Station xiii. 214 As a fighting machine the H.12 was *under-gunned for her size. 1944Return to Attack (Army Board, N.Z.) 8/1 The armoured brigades..were equipped with..both types [of tank] fast-moving but under-gunned compared with the German tanks.
1964I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 33 We cannot examine demography without basing our analysis on some definite correlation of..*underindustrialized and overpopulated.
1968Punch 31 July 141/1 The *under⁓informed voter.
1866Odling Anim. Chem. 144 Strongly suggestive of these animals being, so to speak, *under-lunged.
1778[W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric., Digest 66 Re-load *under-made Hay.
1847Helps Friends in C. I. iv. 67 An ugly phantom of a caricature..which..*under-mimics its wisdom, over-acts its folly.
1936*Under-policed [see under-garrisoned above]. 1978N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a20/5 Underpoliced and unkempt, [the bus terminal]..serves as headquarters for an ominous army of hookers, muggers and pimps.
1884Spectator 4 Oct. 1298/2 If..only the pure Milesian race should own the soil..the country would be *under-populated.
1882Garden 25 Feb. 135/3 Use manure water freely..to all [ferns] that are *under-potted.
1905Kipling Actions & Reactions (1909) 128 *Under-powered craft..can ascend to the limit of their lift. 1980‘M. Harris’ Treasure of Sainte Foy i. 4 The small Renault is underpowered and rather cheaply built.
1971H. Wilson Labour Govt. xxxvi. 739 One of the *under-publicised achievements of comprehensive secondary education.
1965*Under-react [see overreact v.] 1982Economist 5 June 37/2 The markets may, on average, have underreacted to the publication of the money figures.
1849Maurice Let. in Life (1884) II. 9 A misunderstanding, contraction or *under⁓realising of the truths of God's Absolute, Fatherly Love.
1776Adam Smith W.N. i. x. i. (1869) I. 105 In point of pecuniary gain..they..are generally *under-recompensed.
1967*Under-recover [see over-recovered s.v. over- 27 b].
1884Manch. Exam. 16 Oct. 5/1 We are told that the counties are enormously *under-represented.
1942M. McCarthy Company she Keeps v. 239 [He] went back to the public library; perhaps..the material was *under-researched. 1982Pol. Sci. Q. XCVII. 474 Rawlings's intervention, so sadly underresearched.
1881Daily Tel. 20 Oct., An absurdly *under-rigged steamer.
1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 673 The *under-ripened seed of the bad season of 1841 produced the good crop of potatoes of 1842.
1832Nat. Philos., Electric. ii. §49. 13 (L.U.K.), In a deficiency of fluid, or in matter *under-saturated.
1786Trans. Soc. Arts IV. 102 The land was *under seeded.
1872H. W. Beecher Lect. Preach. iv. 109 Some men *under-sleep, and some over-sleep; some eat too much, and some too little.
1941*Understained [see heterochromatin]. 1956Under-stained [see heterochromatic a. 2].
1900Christian 15 Nov. 9/1 We frequently have to pay.. excess on delivery of *understamped letters. 1778*Under-tilled [see under-dunged above].
1900Phil. Mag. L. 132 A lower factor of safety might..be used in such cases, where there is a large reserve of *understressed material. 1928Observer 17 June 8 It is a curious book. Colloquial and offhand, deliberately understressed in feeling and description, [etc.]. 1969Harper's Bazaar Sept. 27/1 An expensive car must be one hundred per cent reliable, and this..means an under-stressed engine of the simplest possible kind.
1889Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 227 The negative was so badly *undertimed as to be useless.
1861O. W. Holmes Pages fr. Old Vol. Life (1891) 9 They are very commonly pallid, *undervitalized, shy, sensitive creatures.
1832Prop. Reg. Instr. Cavalry iii. 99 The Troop Leaders may know whether to over-wheel or *under-wheel.
ellipt.1628Feltham Resolves ii. xxviii. 89, I hold it a greater iniurie to bee ouer-valued, then vnder. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre vii, The under..or the over dressing of a dish.
b. With nouns, in the sense of ‘insufficient, deficient, defective’, contrasted with over- 29. Examples occur in the 17th cent. in underprice, -rate, -value, -wages, and are not uncommon in later use, though less frequent than the verbal forms. Recent examples include under-capacity, -emphasis, -fulfilment, -population, -recovery, -registration.
1962E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) lxxxvi. 725 The American problem of abundance or overcapacity to produce commodities and *undercapacity to consume them.
1916E. Pound Let. 17 Apr. (1971) 76 In ‘Impression’, I don't think ‘dissolved’ is just the right word, though I recognize that you may have been aiming at a sort of restraint or *under-emphasis which can be effective. 1977M. Edelman Political Lang. v. 83 Hess and Torney found a repetitive emphasis in the schools on the values of loyalty, authority, and law, and an underemphasis on citizens' rights.
1895Pop. Sci. Monthly July 380 The result is always over⁓eating and *under-exercise.
1962E. Snow Other Side of River (1963) vii. 58, I can't recall visiting any mine or factory where ‘*underfulfillment’ was predicted.
1861M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 11, I shall proceed to point out..some inconveniences of *under-government.
1899Patten Developm. Eng. Th. vi. 382 Overnutrition as well as *undernutrition weakens the body.
1922Daily Mail 29 Nov. 8/4 The absurd *underpopulation of the country parts. 1966Times 28 Mar. (Austral. Suppl.) p. xii/6 Faced with the difficulties of isolation and under-population, managements argue that secondhand top name overseas packages are a cheaper..investment.
c1900Buck's Handbk. Med. Sci. VI. 158 (Cent. Suppl.), The foul air..makes a direct escape,..providing..it meets or passes no compartment on its way in which *under⁓pressure exists.
1887Pall Mall G. 28 Feb. 1/2 Over production may exist in manufactures owing to *under production of crops.
1961Ann. Reg. 1960 511 The Sugar Board..revealed a loss..; the deficit brought the Board's total ‘*under-recovery’ to {pstlg}7·1 million.
1952C. P. Blacker Eugenics 160 Lorimer gives good reasons for thinking that this discrepancy arose from *under-registration of deaths, especially of infantile deaths, in the intervening period.
1894Westm. Gaz. 14 Sept. 1/3 More important..is the *under-representation of the big societies.
1864Ruskin in Daily Tel. 31 Oct., An *under-supply of wages and an over-supply of labourers.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 268 *Under ventilation, too little air circulating in a mine.
c. With adjectives under- is rarely employed as the opposite of over- 28, except when directly suggested by the latter, e.g. under-scrupulous as the converse of over-scrupulous; underhonest (Shakes.) in contrast to overproud; under-ripe, etc.
1971Nature 23 Apr. 517/1 With this value..Fig. 1 suggests that the primary is grossly underluminous for its mass.
11. In words formed with under- the stress is variable. Normally it falls on the stem in verbs (including participles in predicative use) and on the prefix in nouns, adjectives, and attributive participles, with a secondary stress on prefix or stem respectively, whenever form or sense makes a double stressing natural or necessary. Even in verbs, however, the prefix naturally takes either the main or an equal stress whenever it becomes emphatic through contrast either with the simple verb or with a compound in over-.
12. Compounds in which the two parts are not felt to be distinct are written as one word without a hyphen. In other formations the use of the hyphen is variable, and depends to a great extent on the form or the frequency of the word. Complete separation of the prefix, common in older usage, is now restricted to instances in which under may be taken as an adjective. Examples of these have been included under the compounds, as no clear distinction can be drawn between the two.
▪ II. under-, prefix2|ˈʌndə(r)|
originating in the coalescence of the preposition under with a following noun, the compound being then usually employed as an adj. or adv., as underfoot, -ground, -hand, -stairs, -water. In attributive use these compounds have the stress on the prefix.
Purely adjectival formations, as under-celestial (Florio), -natural (1642), -proficient (1703), are rare. An unusual type occurs in undergraduate.
1892Daily News 1 Feb. 2/3 The Indian season being..dull in consequence of *under-average grain crops.
1886Pall Mall G. 24 Aug. 4/2 The substitution for the old *under-guard lever of the ‘snap’, or spring action for opening the breech.
1876T. Hardy Ethelberta ii, Everything turned upon whether the postmaster..would be in his *under⁓government manner.
1966Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. xvi/6, The submarine freighter..must have an *under-ice capacity of 800 to 1,000 miles. 1976Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXIV. 638/2 BAS has undertaken surface sledge traverses for major anomalies and to interpret the under-ice rocks and principal structural features such as George VI Sound.
1887Meredith Ballads & P. 149 Some *undermountain narrative he tells.
1894Daily News 3 Sept. 4/1 The work of real difficulty is..the *under-river portion of the tunnel.
1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 301 A bridge across an *under-swamp river.
1959Encounter Nov. 17/2, 175 divisions in the Red Army..as against 14 *under-strength divisions in the U.S. army. 1971R. Petrie Thorne in Flesh ix. 117 An understrength police force was at full stretch. |