Etymograph

English

under

Under comes from Old English under ‘under, beneath’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *under ‘under, beneath; among’, a merger of two older prepositions.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*under1‘under, beneath; among’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*undar1‘under’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150under1‘under, beneath’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500under1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611under1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English under
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I keep under my body, and bring it into…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*underWiktionary, English under‘under, beneath; among’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*undarWiktionary, English under‘under’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150underWiktionary, English under‘under, beneath’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500underWiktionary, English under
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611underWiktionary, English under. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “I keep under my body, and bring it into…”

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Today it means

prep Beneath; below; at or to the bottom of, or the area covered or surmounted by.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “under”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *under / under