under

Meanings

Adverb

• In or to a lower or subordinate position, or a position beneath or below something, physically or figuratively.
• So as to pass beneath something.
• Insufficiently.
• In or into an unconscious state.

Adjective

• Lower; beneath something.
• In a state of subordination, submission or defeat.
• Under anesthesia, especially general anesthesia; sedated.
• Insufficient or lacking in a particular respect.

Related

Similar words

• below
• beneath
• underneath

Opposite words

• above
• over

Origin

• From Middle English under, from Old English under, from Proto-Germanic *under (whence also German unter, Dutch onder, Danish and Norwegian under), from a merger of Proto-Indo-European *n̥dʰér and *n̥tér. Akin to Old High German untar ("under"), Sanskrit अन्तर् ("within"), Latin infrā ("below, beneath") and inter.