Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

under-

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.73 in modern English

Syllables: un-der-
IPA

6

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

prefix

prefix

To go from one side to the other; to progress along a path

prefix

Less than, beneath in quantity

prefix

Deficient, below what is correct, insufficient

prefix

Example Sentences

"e.g. underground, underneath, underpass"
"e.g. understand, undergo, underbear, undertake"
"e.g. underadditive, underage, underbound"
"e.g. underapply, underbill, underawe"
"e.g. undersecretary, underling, underclass"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? 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- From Middle English under-, from Old English under-, from Proto-West Germanic *undar, from Proto-Germanic *under, from Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér (“below”) and *h₁n̥tér (“inside”). For more, see under.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: under-, *undar, *under, *(H)n̥dʰér

Synonyms

hypo- sub- infra- en- olig- meio- dys- mal- vice-

Antonyms

over- epi- sur- hyper- supra- pleo- telo- per- pur- arch-

Questions

What does under- mean?: Beneath, under
Where does under- come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce under-

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