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 under- plus pass.

underprivileged

From under- plus privileged.

From under- + promotion.

From under- plus rated.

From under- + reckon.

From under- + score.

From under- plus sea.

From under- plus secretary.

From under- + see. Cognate with Dutch onderzien (“to see below”), German untersehen (“to see below”).

From Middle English underseken, onderseken (also undersechen), from Old English undersēcan (“to investigate, examine”), equivalent to under- + seek. Cognate with West Frisian ûndersykje (“to research”), Dutch onderzoeken (“to investigate, probe, examine”), German untersuchen (“to examine, investigate, explore”).

From under- plus shirt.

From under- plus side.

From under- plus signed.

From under- plus staffed.

From Old English understandan, literally "to stand among/between," from under- ("among") plus standan ("to stand") — the sense shifted over time from being positioned close to something to grasping it mentally.

From understand plus the suffix -able.

From understandable plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

From Old English understanding, formed from understand plus the noun-forming suffix -ing.

From under- plus stated.

From under- plus statement, or alternatively from understate plus -ment.

From under- + structure.

From under- plus study, reflecting the idea of studying a role "beneath" or in support of the main performer.

From under- + suck.

From Middle English undertaken, from under- plus take.

From undertake plus the agent suffix -er, originally meaning simply "one who undertakes a task," later narrowing to specifically mean a funeral director.

Formed from undertake plus -ing.

From under- + time.

From under- plus tow, describing a current that tows or drags things beneath the surface.

From under plus water.

A calque of the Dutch onderweg ("on the way"), formed from under- plus way.

From under- plus -wear.

From under- + whelm: a humorous coinage by novel negation of overwhelm first recorded in the 1950s.

Facetious play on overwhelm, with under.

From under- plus wood.

From under- plus world.

From Middle English underwriten, from Old English underwrītan (“to write at the foot of, write under, subscribe”). Compare Dutch onderschrijven (“to endorse”), German unterschreiben (“to sign; endorse”), Danish underskrive (“to sign; endorse”). By surface analysis, under- + write.

From underwrite + -er.

From un- + deserve.

From un- + deserving.

From un- + designing.

From un- plus desirable.

From un- plus detectable.

From un- plus detected.

From un- plus determined.

From un- plus developed.

From un- + deviating.

From un- + die.

A shortening of underwear with the informal -ie/-y ending added.