Forms: 1– under, 3–7 vnder (6 Sc. wnder), 4–5 vndyr, 5 vn-, undir, -dre, undur, owndir. [OE. under, = OS. undar. etc.: see prec.] 1. Below, down below, beneath.
Beowulf, 1417. Wæter under stod, dreoriʓ and ʓedrefed. Ibid., 2213. Stiʓ under læʓ eldum uncuð.
a. 900. O. E. Martyrol., 5 May, 76. Se dæl þære ciricean … þær þæs hælendes fotlastas sindon under.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Saints’ Lives, iv. 393. He … het þa … fyr under betan.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3188. Moyses it folwede ðider it flet, And stod ðor ðe graue under let [= lay].
13[?]. Cursor M., 377 (Gött.). He wroȝt … þe sky … wid watir schinand als cristall, þat es on hey, þat es vnder.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 173. And under al aboute he seth The faire lusti floures springe.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), iv. 12. Men may see þare þe erthe of þe toumbe … stirre and moue, as þer ware a qwikke thing vnder.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 241. Yf the lyght mettis vndyr be, whan hit is defiet.
1535. Coverdale, Gen. xlix. 25. Helped … with blessynges of heauen from aboue, with blessinges of ye depe yt lyeth vnder.
1591. Spenser, Vis. World’s Vanity, 65. A sword-fish … in his throat him pricking softly vnder.
1648. Crashaw, Poems (1904), 152. Storme and Thunder Would sit under, And keepe silence round about thee.
1819. W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 48. At anes the bells baith up and under Begoud to rattle on like thunder.
1820. Shelley, The Cloud, 10. I wield the flail of the lashing hail, And whiten the green plains under.
b. With verbs expressing or implying movement. † To look under, to look down (LOOK v. 44).
a. 1120. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1083. Þa wreccan munecas laʓon onbuton þam weofode & sume crupon under.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1297. Þen the Troiens … Gird euyn to the Grekes with a grym fare,… Wondit of þe wightist, warpide hom vnder.
1539. Bible, 1 Kings xviii. 23. Let them … laye hym on wodd, and put no fyre vnder.
1608. Sylvester, Du Bartas, II. iv. Schism, 1012. Like as a Roach, or Ruff, or Gudgeon … Frisks to and fro, aloft and under dives.
1818. Byron, Juan, I. cliii. There is the closet, there the toilet, there The antechamber—search them under, over.
1846. Soyer, Cookery, 176. Saw the rib bones asunder in the middle; pass your knife under.
2. In special senses: a. Beneath the rider.
c. 1100. O. E. Chron. (MS. D), an. 1079. His hors wearð under of-scoten.
b. Lower down on a page, etc.
Chiefly in combs., as under-mentioned, -named, -specified; cf. also HEREUNDER adv. † To seal under: see SEAL v.1 4.
c. 1362. [see UNDERWRITTEN ppl. a.].
1474. Cov. Leet Bk., 390. These ben the names vnder folowyng of the Collectours.
1785. Burns, Inventory, 74. This list,… I wrote it, Day an’ date as under notit.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 257. I have designed a slide as under.
c. Below the garments; on the inner side of a garment.
c. 1400. Brut, clxxviii. 199. He … smote him wyþ a knyf; but þe false traitoure was armed vnder, so þat þe stroke myght done him none harme.
1457. Sc. Acts Jas. II., c. 13. Þat na woman weir … talys of vnsittande lenthe nor furryt vnder bot on þe haliday.
d. Of the sun, etc.: Below the horizon; set.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, i. 46. Nyghe was the sonne vnder, and it was well aboute complyn tyme. Ibid., xiv. 346. Whan reynawd sawe all redy that ye sonne was goon vndre, & that the nyght cam fast on.
1609. Skene, Reg. Maj., 104. He may cast the Proces, saying, that … it was made vnlawfullie vnder Sunne.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (1902), 93/2. The sun was under before I laid him low. Ibid., 118/2. The moon was now under, and it was very dark.
1859. Meredith, R. Feverel, xxxiv. The sun was under.
e. Under water; submerged.
1830–73. [see GUNWALE b].
1890. Cent. Dict., s.v. Rail, The vessel sailed rail under.
f. Down under, in the Antipodes.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 1 June, 5/1. He had once made 74. for Australia against England ‘down under.’
3. a. Into a position or state of subjection or submission. (See also BRING v. 26, GET v. 71.)
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 4041. Ofð e sal risen … a wond ðe sal smiten riȝt Moab kinges, and under don Al sedes kin ðis werld up-on.
a. 1300. K. Horne, 1420 (Camb.). To schupe we mote draȝe; Fikenhild me haþ i-don vnder.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 5. Love, which doth many a wonder And many a wys man hath put under. Ibid., 117. I that lawe obeie Of which the kinges ben put under.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., VI. (Percy Soc.), 26. It is alwaye at mannes pleasaunce To take the good and caste the evyll under.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, 1. Wherefore the Greekes call it Fickleforce, for that it can not be brought under.
1646. Drumm. of Hawth., Answ. to Objections, Wks. (1711), 214. We are not brought to such a Nonplus, and so under,… but that we dare both say and maintain, They proceed unjustly with us.
1723. Lockhart Papers (1817), II. 112. Both the contending partys did desire to promote unity and peace, provyded their opponents would knock under.
1791. Ann. Reg., Chron., 4. The fire was got under.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xxix. I’ve begun now to bring them under.
1882. [see KNUCKLE v. 2].
b. In subjection or submission; in a subordinate or inferior position.
13[?]. K. Alis., 3054 (Laud MS.). For no power, ne for no wonder, Ȝitt ne weren we neuer vnder.
c. 1460. Oseney Reg., 19. Know he hym-selfe gilty,… And be he vndur to þe streyte veniaunce in þe last dome.
1463. G. Ashby, Prisoner’s Refl., 292. The ryche slepeth, the pore laboreth vnder.
1480. Robt. Devyll, 341. Nowe the people dyd wonder To se that all knyghtes to hym wer vnder.
1568. Grafton, Chron., II. 330. Why should we then be so kept vnder lyke beastes and slaues?
1598. R. Bernard, trans. Terence, Andria, I. i. How couldst thou know his nature,… whilst … awe and his master kept him vnder?
1611. Bible, 1 Cor. ix. 27. But I keepe vnder my body, and bring it into subiection.
1647. N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., I. xvii. 54. The new stemme of Kingly power … sucked much from them, and kept them under.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 15 Aug., 1687. The King keeps them under by an army of 40,000 men.
c. To go under: see GO v. 93.
4. With preps. † a. At under, in an inferior place or position; in subjection. Sc. Obs.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VII. 365. For he ves put at vndir swa, That he ves left all hym allane.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., V. x. 2396. Dycius … held þaim euer at vnder ay.
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 36. Sum men wenis to be at outhe and abune that is at undir.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, I. 23. He hes att warslingis beine ane hunder, Ȝett lay his body nevir at wnder.
1573. J. Tyrie, in Cath. Tract. (S.T.S.), 3. Sufficient to put at vnder the euill foundet fortres my aduersar hes builded.
1652. Urquhart, Jewel, 197. The cruelty of whose perverse zeal, will keep the effects of his vertue still at under.
1677. Gilpin, Dæmonol. (1867), 153. They kept them at under, as captives in a dungeon.
b. From under, from below.
1535. Coverdale, Amos ii. 9. I destroyed his frute from aboue, and his rote from vnder.
1611. Bible, Ezek. xlvii. 1. The waters came downe from vnder from the right side of the house.
5. Less in amount, etc.; lower in price.
1574. W. Bourne, Regiment for Sea, ii. (1577), 9 b. The Epacte sheweth the age of the Moone or chaunge day, within 12 houres under or over.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., IV. 137. The price of a virgin was too deare for him,… and widdows were farre vnder.
6. Under and over, a gambling game with dice.
1890. Newcastle Even. Chron., 26 Dec., 3/1. Fined … on a charge of playing ‘under and over’ with the dice and box.
