beneath
preposition
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L11798 on Wikidata ↗adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L333729 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɪˈniːθ/
adv
Etymology: From Middle English benethe, from Old English bineoþan (“beneath, under, below”), equivalent to be- + neath. Cognate with Low German benedden (“beneath”), Dutch beneden (“beneath, under, down”), obsolete German benieden (“below”).
- Below or underneath.
“Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.”
prep
Etymology: From Middle English benethe, from Old English bineoþan (“beneath, under, below”), equivalent to be- + neath. Cognate with Low German benedden (“beneath”), Dutch beneden (“beneath, under, down”), obsolete German benieden (“below”).
- Below.
“Our country sinks beneath the yoke.”
“1718, Alexander Pope, epitaph to Nicholas Rowe Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies.”
- In a position that is lower in rank, dignity, etc.
“Their despicable behaviour is beneath contempt.”
“He will do nothing that is beneath his high station.”
- Covered up or concealed by something.