Etymograph

English

underlook

Underlook comes from Middle English underloken ‘look up at? be suspicious of?’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *lōkōn.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lōkōn1‘to look, see’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150lōcian1‘to look, see’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500loken2‘to look (at)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500underloken3‘look up at? be suspicious of?’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1682underlook3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English loken
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English underloken
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English underlook
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1682, Edmund Hickeringill, The black Non-Conformist: “They would be Shepherds and feed his Sheep, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*lōkōnWiktionary, Middle English loken‘to look, see’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150lōcianWiktionary, Middle English loken‘to look, see’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lokenWiktionary, Middle English underloken‘to look (at)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500underlokenWiktionary, English underlook‘look up at? be suspicious of?’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1682underlookWiktionary, English underlook. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1682, Edmund Hickeringill, The black Non-Conformist: “They would be Shepherds and feed his Sheep, and…”

Linked words

through Old English lōcian ‘to look, see’

looking, 1 more

Today it means

noun A concealed or oblique glance.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “underlook”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English loken, Middle English underloken. 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-West Germanic *lōkōn / underlook

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