Where does “under-” come from?
under- (Middle English) comes from Old English under-, from Proto-Germanic under, from Proto-Indo-European h₁entér, from Proto-Indo-European h₁en — in; in, inside.
Ancestry of “under-”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | under- | between, among; beneath; subordinate to |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | under | among, between; under, beneath; under |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁entér | between |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁en | in; in, inside |
Words derived from “under-”