beneath, adv. and prep.
(bɪˈniːθ)
Forms: 1 beniþan, -neoðan, -nyðan, 2–3 bi-neoðen, -neoþen, -neðen, noþen, (Orm.) -neþenn, 3 bi-neoðe, -neoþe, -neðe, 3–4 bi-neþe(n, 4 -nethen, by-neþen, -neathe, be-nyþe, 4–5 by-nethen, -neþe, beneþe, 4–6 bynethe, 5 byneithe, bineth, 5–6 by-, beneth(e, 5– beneath; 8– 'neath.
[OE. bi-niðan, be-neoðan, f. bi- be- + niðan, neoðan ‘below, down,’ orig. ‘from below,’ earlier neoðane, neoðone, = OS. nithana, OHG. nidana, MHG. niden(e, mod.G. nieden, f. OTeut. niþar ‘lower, farther down, down’: see nether + advb. ending -ana, originally expressing motion ‘from.’ The be- gave or emphasized the notion of ‘where,’ excluding that of ‘whence’ pertaining to the simple niðan. The modern 'neath is abbreviated from beneath. Originally an adverb, but already in OE. construed with dative (of reference), as a prep.]
A. adv.
1. gen. In a low position relatively to some other place; in a lower position; low or lower down; downward; = below adv. 1.
| c 1205 Lay. 25610 Ofte wes þe drake buuen: And eft seoððen bineoþen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 390 Brod ase scheld buuen..and neruh bineoðen. c 1305 St. Kenelm 127 in E.E.P. (1862) 51 On of his beste freond..In þe grounde stod byneþe. c 1400 Destr. Troy xiii. 5529 A mon fro þe myddell vp, And fro the nauyll by-neithe, vne an abill horse. 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle iv. xxxiv. (1483) 82 As well of tho that ben bynethen as tho that ben aboue. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 78 And hears it [the sea] roar beneath. 1605 ― Lear iv. vi. 128 To the Girdle do the Gods inherit, beneath is all the Fiends. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iii. 298 Pure water in a font beneath reflects The many-colour'd rays. |
† b. Lower on a written or printed page; = below adv. 1 b. Obs.
| 854 Chart. æthelwulf in Cod. Dipl. V. 106 Ðara naman her beneoðan awritene standað. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xxvii. 64 Of which see other Anatomists..and my father Bartholinus beneath. |
2. With reference to certain understood points: † a. Beneath the skies; in the world, on the earth. Obs. or arch.; expressed by below adv. 2 a.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 9 Ðan sal him almightin luuen Her bineðen and..abuuen. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5055 We synful..bynethe on þe erthe. 1382 Wyclif Ex. xx. 4 In heuene aboue, and..in erthe benethe [so in 1611]. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 183 Say youre prayers here by nethe. 1526 Tindale John viii. 23 Ye are from beneth; I am from above. [1875 Browning Aristoph. Apol. 106 Our world beneath Shows..grimly gross.] |
b. Beneath the earth; in Hades, in hell.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5408 Helle bynethen..Sal þan be open. 1611 Bible Isa. xiv. 9 Hell from beneath is mooued for thee. a 1736 Yalden (J.) The dread abyss beneath, Hell's horrid mansions. |
3. Directly below; underneath.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4082 Hise hore bi-neðe and him abuuen. a 1300 Cursor M. 1681 Þu sal bi-neþ en on þe side Mak a dor wit mesur wide. 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 43 Whiche Ryft..appereth by nethe. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 186 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 43 High o'er the Gate..The Crowd shall Cæsar's Indian War behold; The Nile shall flow beneath. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 1639 Shaggy eyebrows elevate With twinkling apprehension in each orb Beneath. |
b. Under some covering or surface, underneath; underground, under the earth.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 131 Lat delue vnder þe fundement, & þou schalt bineþe fynde A waterpol. 1388 Wyclif Job xviii. 16 The rootis of hym be maad drie bynethe. c 1400 Destr. Troy v. 1609 The water..clensit by ocurse all þe clene Cite Of filth and of feum, throughe fletyng by nethe. 1611 Bible Jer. xxxi. 37 If..the foundations of the earth [can be] searched out beneath. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 466 Spread with Straw, the bedding of thy Fold; With Fern beneath. |
4. Lower down on a slope, or in the course of a river. rare. Now below adv. 3.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 161 On the mount of Parasie..And eke beneth in the valey. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. 62 The stopping of the waters [of Jordan] above must necessarily command their defection beneath. |
5. Down or lower in fortune, station, dignity, rank, or quality. arch.
| c 1000 ælfric Deut. xxviii. 13 Þu bist æfre bufan and na beniþan. c 1205 Lay. 9839 Ȝif mi cun clembeð & bineoðen þe ibringeð. 1297 R. Glouc. 258 An batayle at Elendone hii smyte..Þe Kyng Bernulf was þere byneþe, & bynome al ys bost. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 53 Þe pope, cardinalis, bischopis, & oþer prelats be neþe, are disciplis of anticrist. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xxviii. 13 Thou shalt be aboue onely, and not benethe [Wyclif, vndur; 1611 beneath]. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 131 That next [is disdain'd] by him beneath. |
B. (with object expressed) prep.
The prepositional use of beneath seems originally to have been introduced to express the general notion of ‘lower than,’ as distinguished from the specific sense of under. But in process of time beneath was so largely used for under, that below was laid hold of to express the more general idea. In ordinary spoken English, under and below now cover the whole field (below tending naturally to overlap the territory of under), leaving beneath more or less as a literary and slightly archaic equivalent of both (in some senses), but especially of under. The only senses in which beneath is preferred are 7 (‘beneath contempt’), and fig. uses of 4 (e.g. ‘to fall beneath the assaults of temptation’).
† 1. gen. In a position down from or lower than. Obs. or arch. Now expressed by below prep. 1. † beneath stair: = below stairs.
| a 900 Pol. Laws ælfred §63 in Thorpe I. 96 Gif se sconca biþ þyrel beneoðan cnéowe. c 1205 Lay. 14985 Heo bar bineoðen hire titten ane guldene ampulle. c 1305 St. Edm. Conf. 164 in E.E.P. (1862) 75 He was byneþe his brech igurd faste ynouȝ. c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. ii. §25 By-nethe the Orisonte. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 27 For all beneath the Moone would I not leape upright. 1631 T. Powell Tom All Trades 168 The chiefest hand in preferring to any office beneath stayer. |
2. Directly down from, overhung or surmounted by; under, underneath.
| a 1200 Moral Ode in Lamb. Hom. 87 He is buuen us and binoþen . biforen and bihinden. a 1225 Ancr. R. 304 Bineoðen us..þe wide þreote of helle. a 1520 Myrr. Our Ladye 119 Aboue vs, bynethe vs. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 180 You'le be found, Be you beneath the Sky. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 737 Lands that lye beneath another Sun. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 13 The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade. 1821 Keats Isabel i, They could not, sure, beneath the same roof sleep. 1832 Tennyson Audley Court 78 We..saunter'd home beneath a moon..In crescent. |
b. At the base or foot of (a wall, cliff, etc.).
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (1865) I. 209 Hercules, Italus his sone, bulde a citee..by neþe þe Capitol. 1535 Coverdale Ex. xxxii. 19 [He] brake them beneth [Wyclif, at the rotes of] the mount. 1808 Scott Marm. i. iii, Beneath the sable palisade..His bugle horn he blew. 1870 R. Anderson Missions Amer. Bd. II. viii. 61 In a frail canoe beneath a tall cliff overhanging the sea. |
3. Immediately under, in contact with the under side of; covered by; under, underneath.
| 1611 Bible Deut. v. 8 The waters beneath the earth. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 60 In Chambers of their own, beneath the Ground. 1718 Pope Iliad i. 651 One hand she placed Beneath his beard. a 1744 ― Epitaph Rowe 3 Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies. 1726 Dyer Grongar H. 22 So oft I have..Sat..With my hand beneath my head. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 309 The axilla is the angle or cavity that lies beneath the junction of the arm with the shoulder. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 275 The brown red grass Rustling beneath your feet. 1854 A. Jameson Bk. of Th. (1877) 34 No wise man kicks the ladder from beneath him. |
b. Hence: Farther from (the surface); covered or concealed by; inside of, behind. More commonly under.
| 1727 Thomson Summer 753 Thou art no Ruffian, who beneath the mask Of social commerce comest to rob their wealth. 1863 E. Neale Anal. Th. & Nat. 192 Beneath the movement of self-assertion appears the repose of self-government. 1871 Haweis Mus. & Mor. (1874) 7 The Musician's art lies beneath the surface. 1882 Stanley Chr. Instit. viii. 156 A woollen vest, which sometimes had beneath it another fitting close to the skin. |
4. ‘Under, as overborne or overwhelmed by some pressure’ (J.); often fig. subject to, under subjection to, under the influence, action, or control of.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 491 There he broȝte al binethe hom that were is fon. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 39 Our Country sinkes beneath the yoake. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 216/2 The comprehension made by the Senses..omits nothing that can fall beneath it. 1719 Young Busiris i. i. (1757) 10 Elephants..Bending beneath a weight of luxury. 1792 Munchausen's Trav., Thou shalt instant perish 'neath my potent arm. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iv. 402 Thou shouldst set forth Beneath another's guidance. 1800 Bloomfield Farmer's B., Spring 221 Brisk goes the work beneath each busy hand. 1885 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 43 The carved work mouldered fast 'Neath the suns, and the frosts. |
† 5. Lower on a slope, in a valley, etc., than; = below prep. 2. Obs.
| 1551 Turner Herbal (1568) 53, I went by the Rhene side iiij miles beneth Bingen. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 355 Her barbarous sons..spread Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian sands. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 68 Obstructions in all Navigable Rivers beneath the first Bridges. 1704 Hearne Duct. Hist. I. 430 A Quarter of a Mile beneath the Village..is the fallen Ruines of the Tower of Babel. |
6. fig. Lower in the scale of being, station, rank, excellence, or dignity. Now commonly below.
| a 1000 Metr. Boeth. xx. 444 Hio biþ swiðe fior hire selfre beneoðan. c 1200 Ormin 10729 To settenn þe Bineþenn þine lahȝhre. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. v. 49 It is brouȝt byneþen all bestes. c 1375 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. 1869 I. 15 Creatures bineþe men. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. i. 11 Not beneath him in Fortunes. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 115 That were an ignominy..beneath This downfall. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 162 ¶4 Beings above and beneath us have probably no Opinions at all. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 421 Beneath them lay a large class which could not subsist without some aid from the parish. |
7. Unbefitting the dignity of; unworthy of, unbeseeming, undeserving of; lowering to.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §5 Nis nán wuht benyðan him [i.e. beneath his notice]. c 1380 Wyclif Pseudo-Fr. vi. (1880) 310 Talis byneþe bileeue. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 332 So farre beneath your soft and tender breeding. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 53 ¶10 We do not esteem it beneath us to return you our Royal thanks. 1767 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. I. vi. 227 No woman..ought to think it beneath her to be an œconomist. 1871 Haweis Mus. & Mor. 499 Beneath the attention of serious critics. 1883 Times 23 Oct. 9 Thinking nothing beneath the notice of a man of business. |
b. Lower than (any standard of quantity or quality). Better expressed by below.
| 1849 Ruskin Sev. Lamps i. §10 We are none of us so good architects as to be able to work habitually beneath our strength. 1850 M{supc}Cosh Div. Govt. ii. i. (1874) 135 The copies ever fall beneath the original. |
† C. quasi-adj. Obs. rare.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 43 A man Whom this beneath world doth embrace. |
D. Comb. † beneath-forth, out from beneath; beneath. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xlvii. (1495) 259 A stronge colde in the mouthe of the stomak..is cause of out puttynge bineth forthe. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. xxvi. 56 Thyng þat longeth to þe worlde..here byneth forthe. c 1467 Ord. Worcester in E.E. Gilds 373 In one of the Chambers benethforth. |