English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

"U" Word Origins

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

“U” Word Origins

From Latin undecim (“eleven”); formed as logical continuation to December, which in its turn is derived from Latin decem (“ten”), as it was the tenth month in the Roman calendar. It is unclear whether the term was ever used in Classic Latin as a name for an intercalary month.

From un- + defeated.

From un- + defiled.

From un- + deflowered.

From un- + delicious.

From un- + delight.

undemonstrative

From un- + demonstrative.

From un- + deny + -able — literally, "not able to be denied."

From undeniable + -ly.

From Old English under, from Proto-Germanic *under, related to German unter and Latin infra ("below") — an ancient word for "beneath" going back to Proto-Indo-European.

under the weather

From under the weather bow (“affected by bad weather; seasick”); weather bow is a nautical term referring to the side of a ship exposed to bad weather.

From underachieve + -er or under- + achiever.

From under- + active.

From under- + age.

From under- + arm. The armpit sense is not old, historically speaking (1920s), and it is believed to have arisen as a euphemism in advertising.

From under- + belly.

From under + body.

From under- + bring.

From under- + carriage.

From under + clothes.

From under + cover, in the sense of "hidden."

From under- + croft (crypt).

From Middle English undercutten, from under- + cut.

From under- + dog, originally likening the loser to the dog that ends up pinned beneath its opponent in a fight.

From under- + estimate.

From Middle English underfote, from under- + foot.

From Middle English undergangen (“to undego, endure, be baptised”), from Old English undergangan (“to undergo”); equivalent to under- + gang (“to walk, step, go”).

From under- + garment.

From Old English undergān, "to undergo, undermine," from under- + go.

From undergo + -er.

A shortened form of undergraduate.

From under- + graduate — literally, someone below the rank of a graduate.

From Middle English undergrounde, from under + ground.

From under- + growth.

From under- + guess.

From under + hand.

From under- + handed.

Built from "under" plus "hill" — literally describing something positioned beneath or at the foot of a hill.

From Middle English underjoinen, equivalent to under- + join.

From under- + judge.

From under- + line.

From Old English underling, formed from under + the suffix -ling (as in "duckling").

Formed from underlie plus the ending -ing.

From under- plus mine, originally meaning to dig a tunnel beneath a wall to bring it down.

From Middle English undern, ondern, from Old English undern (“third hour of the day; nine o'clock; morning”), from Proto-Germanic *undurniz (“interval”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥ter, *h₁enter (“between”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch onder, dialectal German Untern, dialectal Swedish undarn.

From Old English underneoðan, from under plus neoðan ("from below"); related to the word "beneath."

From under- ("too little") plus paid, the past tense of pay.

From under- plus pants.