underpinningn.
/ˌʌndəˈpɪnɪŋ/, /ˈʌndəˌpɪnɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈəndərˌpɪnɪŋ/ 1. The action of supporting or strengthening a building, etc., from beneath. (See underpin v. 1.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > action or fact of supporting > by something placed underneath
underpinning1486
undersetting1842
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > [noun] > building foundations
foundationc1385
pinning1418
underpinning1486
groundselling1579
1486–9 in Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (1821) III. 359/2 Paid for a grounsell for the kechyn wall and for underpynnyng and leiyng in of the same, xv d.
1493–4 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 198 Payd for vndyrpynyng of Mastres Atclyffe ys pewe, vj d.
1493–4 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 198 Payd..for vndyrpynny[n]g of þe newe pewys.
1528 Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/4) Paid to a tyler for stanchonyng, dobyng, & vnderpynnyng of the store house.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 304 Underpinning for the Bricklayer to dig the Foundation..is a Penny a foot.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 1049 Underpinning, bringing a wall up to the ground sill.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 267 Underpinning, building up the walling of a pit-shaft to join that above it.
2.
a. The materials or structure used for giving support to a building from beneath.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports
staffc1000
hold1042
source1359
legc1380
shorer1393
stabilimenta1398
upholder1398
sustentationa1400
undersetterc1400
bearinga1425
undersettinga1425
suppowellc1430
triclinec1440
sustentaclec1451
supportera1475
sustainerc1475
sustenal1483
stayc1515
buttress1535
underpinning1538
firmament1554
countenance1565
support1570
appuia1573
comfort1577
hypostasis1577
underpropping1586
porter1591
supportation1593
supportance1597
understaya1603
bearer1607
rest1609
upsetter1628
mountinga1630
sustent1664
underlay1683
holdfast1706
abutment1727
suppeditor1728
mount1739
monture1746
bed1793
appoggiatura1833
bracing1849
bench1850
under-pinner1859
bolster-piece1860
sustainer1873
table mount1923
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > building or providing with specific parts > specific parts built or constructed > [noun] > foundation(s)
staddlea900
ground-stathelnessa1300
foundation1398
groundsel1433
ground-pinning1448
underpinning1538
groundworka1557
footing1611
substruction1624
under-filling1624
substructure1726
found1818
pinninga1825
well1832
soling1838
masonite1840
ground-statheling-
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Substructio, vnderpynnynge or groundyng of a house.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 575 When Cambyses..burnt all before him, as farre as to the very foundation and underpinning of the Obeliske.
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. 256 Foundation,..Base, Bottom, fundamental, underpinning.
1744 Philos. Trans. 1740–41 (Royal Soc.) 41 852 [The houses] were all, in a manner, rocked quite off from their Underpinnings.
1789 Massachusetts Spy 16 July 3/4 A new frame of a barn, uncovered,..was taken by a whirlwind from its underpinning.
1894 W. D. Howells Traveller from Altruria 112 The sod was backed up against the wooden under-pinning.
b. figurative. A support or prop.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > support > [noun] > that which or one who supports
crutchc900
upholda1066
uptakinga1300
arma1382
postc1387
staff1390
sustainerc1390
undersetterc1400
potent?a1439
buttressa1450
supportalc1450
comfort1455
supporta1456
studa1500
poge1525
underpropper1532
shore1534
staya1542
prop1562
stoopa1572
underprop1579
sustentation1585
rest1590
underpinning1590
supportance1597
sustinent1603
lean1610
reliance1613
hingea1616
columna1620
spar1630
gable end1788
lifeboat1832
standback1915
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. B2 They are like to daunce after his pipe, and set themselues vpon a miry pinne,..till his vnderpinning will faile him, I doubt.
1656 Disc. Auxiliary Beauty 71 Those grosse Solœcismes of Art, which by unseasonable..affectations (as so many pitifull props and underpinnings) strive in vain to skrew and set up lapsed and tottering age.
1775 E. Burke Speech Amer. Taxation 16 That this House..is itself held up only by the under-pinning and clumsy buttresses of arbitrary power.
a1894 in Sunday Reform Leaflets (Columbus, Ohio) Sept. 6 The moral underpinning requisite to sustain the superstructure of man's rights.
c. spec. (U.S. slang), the legs. Chiefly in plural. Cf. under-pinner n.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun]
shanka900
legc1300
grainsa1400
limbc1400
foot?a1425
stumpa1500
pin?1515
pestlea1529
boughc1550
stamp1567
understander1583
pile1584
supporters1601
walker?1611
trestle1612
fetlock1645
pedestal1695
drumstick1770
gam1785
timber1807
tram1808–18
fork1812
prop1817
nethers1822
forkals1828
understanding1828
stick1830
nether person1835
locomotive1836
nether man1846
underpinning1848
bender1849
Scotch peg1857
Scotch1859
under-pinner1859
stem1860
Coryate's compasses1864
peg1891
wheel1927
shaft1935
1848 E. Bennet Mike Fink 9/2 Nothing like long under-pinins fur travel.
1895 N.Y. Dramatic News 5 Oct. 6/1 Do cigarette girls at work wear their dresses decollete at the bottom and show their underpinning?
1934 A. Woollcott While Rome Burns 48 There he was at last with his underpinnings shot from under him.
1974 R. B. Parker God save Child (1975) xiii. 95 I learned Vic's technique for developing ‘sinewy and shapely under~pinnings’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1486