▪ I. nether, a.
(ˈnɛðə(r))
Forms: 1 nioðerra, niðera, nyðera, 3 nyþere; 1 neoþ(e)ra, 3 neoþere; 4 nethere, 4–5 neþer, (5 -ire), 5–6 nethir, (5 -yr, Sc. nathir), neder, (6 -ur, Sc. neddir); 4 nei-, neyþer, 6 neyther, 7 neither, 6–7 neather; 5– nether.
[Common Teut.: OE. neoþera, niþera, etc., = OFris. nithere, nedere, OS. nithiri (MDu. neder, Du. neder- in combs.), MLG. neder, nedder, OHG. nidari, -eri, -iri (MHG. nidere, nider, G. nieder), ON. neðri (Sw. and Da. nedre), f. niþer(e, nether adv.2 or adv.3 See also netherer and netherest.]
Lower, under (in contrast to higher, over, or upper).
1. With partitive terms, esp. part or end. † Also (in OE.) absol. in pl.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxxxviii. 15 In ðæm nioðerum eorðan. 971 Blickl. Hom. 239 Gangað on þas niðeran dælas þisse ceastre. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 21 The nethir half [of the way] wes perelouss. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xxiv. 45, I shal persen alle the nethere partis of the erthe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3076 Fingurs full small, With nailes at the neþer endes as a nepe white. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 355/2 Nethyr part of a thynge, inferior. 1525 Tale of Basyn 40 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 45 When the baly was full, [he would] lye downe and wynke, And rest his neder ende. 1570 Billingsley Euclid xi. xxix. 341 Lines..which ioyne together the angles of the vpper and nether bases. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D' Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. xii. 108 Experience dooth teach vs, that the middle region of the ayre is colder than the neather. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 108 A beautous Maid above, but Magick Arts With barking Dogs deformed her neather parts. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. iii. xiv, With one bright star Within the nether tip. 1826 Scott Woodst. iii, At the nether end of the hall, a huge..chimney-piece projected. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. (Low) xi. §519 Upon the nether side of the cloud-ring. |
2. With terms denoting locality, esp. the proper names of countries, districts, hamlets or farms, etc.
Now usually expressed by Lower or Low, but retained in various districts in local place-names, or the names of streets (as Nethergate), etc. in towns.
Nether Dutch and Nether German have occas. been used in English in place of the usual Low († Dutch or) German.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. v. §1 Ne onscuniᵹe ic no þæs neoþeran & þæs unclænan stowe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 127 In þe west side of þe neþer Galilea toward þe grete see. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xiii. 1198 Þir lyis in Neþir Sithia. Ibid. 1227 In þat Neþir Germany All Northtwaye is. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. iii. 124 Thai wester partis..Quhilkis ar bedeit wyth the neder se. 1560 Bible (Genev.) 1 Kings ix. 17 Salomon buylt Gezer and Beth⁓horon the nether. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. Prol. 17 Vuir Clydisdale..as lykwyse nathir Cludisdale. 1629 Rutherford Lett. v. (1862) I. 47 While we are lodged here, we..must be content to remove from one corner of our Lord's nether house to another. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 442 The rising rivers float the nether ground. 1745 Pococke Descr. East II. ii. 202 We were now in the nether principality of the kingdom of Naples. |
† b. Nether House, the House of Commons. Obs.
App. current only in the reign of Henry VIII.
| 1536 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 47 Suche Actes as haue been in this session of that parliament passed the nether and higher houses. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 911/1 When the commons were assembled in the nether house, they began to commune of their griefes. 1640 Yorke Union Hon. 47 Certaine Lords of the upper house of parliament, came into the nether. 1687 Assur. Abb. Lands 180 After which the Speaker with the Commons departed to the Nether House. |
3. Of lip or jaw. Now commonly expressed by lower or under.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 157 Labrum, niðera lippe. c 1050 Voc. ibid. 264 Neoþera welor. c 1300 St. Margarete 160 He..gan his ouere cheoke ouer hire heued do & his nyþere cheoke byneþe at hire ho. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 1468 His neþer chauel he smot doun. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 173 Tantalus stondeþ alway in a water vp anon to þe ouer brerde of þe neþer lippe. 1548 Vicary Anat. 40, xij Muscles..moue the nether Iawe. 1648 Gage West Ind. 77, Pieces of gold..hanging upon their nether lips. 1657 Trapp Comm. Job v. 9 Who can give a naturall reason of the strength of the neather-chap? 1843 Lytton Last Bar. iii. v, An uneasy gnawing of the nether lip. 1857–61 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) II. viii. 469 A nether jaw protruding so hideously that his teeth could never meet. |
b. Of the legs or their clothing. Also in nether man (common in recent use) or nether person.
| 1522 Skelton Why not to Court 1197 Lest he..make hym lame of his neder limmes. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 784 All my nether shape thus grew Transform'd. 1835 J. P. Kennedy Horse Shoe R. xvi, His nether person was rendered conspicuous by a pair of dingy small-clothes. 1836 Marryat Japhet i, Long before the old porter could pull his legs through his nether garments. 1846 Mrs. Gore Eng. Char. (1852) 151 We found a still idler fellow..warming his nether-man on the hearth-rug. |
c. absol. in pl. Lower limbs or parts. rare—1.
| 1822 T. Mitchell Aristoph. II. 175 With a cloak duly tuck'd round their nethers. |
4. In general use, of things. Now only literary.
† nether glove, a greave. † nether vert (see quot. 1598).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 332 Þe neoþere [stone] þet lið stille..bitocneð ferlac..; þe vuere ston bitocneð hope. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 185 Þe planetes and þe neyþer wolkons moeueþ out of þe west in to þe est. a 1400–50 Alexander 4959 Nymes of ȝour nethirgloue & nakens ȝoure leggis. c 1425 Craft Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 6 Write þe first figure of þe hyer nombur euene vndir the first figure of þe nether nombur. 1470–85 Malory Arthur viii. xiv. 294 Syr Tristram bebled both the ouer shete and the nether. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §5 The bodye of the wayne.., the nether rathes, the ouer rathes. 1598 J. Manwood Lawes Forest vi. 34 Neather vert, is that which the Lawiers do call South Boys, and that is properly all manner of vnder⁓wood, and all Bushes, Thornes, Gorse, and the like. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 14 The skirts flow loosely fringed below; the upper shorter then the neather. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 346 'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires. a 1718 Parnell Night-Piece on Death, Thro' their ranks in silver pride The nether crescent seems to glide. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xxxviii, The nether fires of doubt glaring through. 1866 Howells Venet. Life ii. 20 All my nether-spirit, so to speak, was dulled and jaded. |
b. nether millstone (or nether stone). Now only in fig. or allusive use.
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) Job xli. 14 His heart is as strong as a stone, and as hard as the nether milstone. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xxxix. (1739) 59 The Defendant's Arms (which were accounted as the Nether-milstone, or stock of maintenance). 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 3 The nether millstone of my heart began to dissolve. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. x. 1110 He shall make the sword To match that piece of netherstone his heart. 1877 Black Green Past. xxviii, I believe you have a heart as hard as the nether millstone. |
† c. nether clerk, under-clerk. Obs. rare—1.
| 1567 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 614 Maister James Makgill of Rankelour, Nethir Clerk of Register. |
5. Denoting the earth or things upon it, in contrast to heaven or the upper regions. (Usually with this.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 49 This darksom neather world her light Doth dim. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. ii. 79 This shewes you are aboue, You Iustices, that these our neather crimes So speedily can venge. 1760 Fawkes tr. Anacreon, Ode iii. 2 The sable Night had spread around This nether World a Gloom profound. 1786 S. Rogers Ode Superstit. iii. ii, To aspire Beyond this nether sphere. 1832 Carlyle Misc. (1857) III. 68 Thus do Men and Sheep play their parts in this Nether Earth. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xi. 645 The intellect of man in this nether world. |
6. Denoting what lies, or is imagined as lying, beneath the earth; esp. nether world or nether regions.
| [c 825 Vesp. Psalter lxxxvii. 7 Settun mec in seaðe ðæm nioðerran in ðeostrum. 971 Blickl. Hom. 89 Þu ᵹeneredest mine saule of þære neoþeran helle.] |
| 1638 Brome Antipodes i. vi, No Isle nor Angle in that Neather world, But I have made discovery of. 1697 Dryden æneid iii. 497 Must pass the Stygian Lake and view the neather Skies. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) I. 172 When dread Jove the son of Phœbus hurl'd..to the nether world. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam i. xxx, The hell, His reign and dwelling beneath nether skies. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 397 The great reservoirs of melted matter..in the nether regions. 1877 L. Morris Epic Hades i. 10 A cauldron fired With the fires of nether hell. |
| Comb. 1828 Carlyle Misc. (1857) I. 127 In this way can the nether-world Scapin sport with the perplexed beauty. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 300 Besides this nether-world character. |
b. nether-formed adj. = hypogene.
| 1833 [see hypogene]. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. ii. x. 248 It is where the old, hard, nether-formed rocks frowningly appear above the water. |
▪ II. † ˈnether, adv.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 nioðor, niðor, nyðor, neoðor, -er, 2 neðer.
[A comparative form based on the stem niþ-: see next.]
Lower, lower down.
| Beowulf 2699 Þæt he þone niðgæst nioðor hwene sloh. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiii. §5 Sio eorþe..is nioðor þonne æniᵹ oðru ᵹesceaft buton þam rodore. c 1000 ælfric Saint's Lives i. 58 Þelæs þe þæt mod sy neoðer þonne se lichoma. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 103 He beð neðer þanne he er was. |
▪ III. † ˈnether, adv.2 Obs.
Forms: 1–3 niþer, niðer; 1 nyþer, nyðer, (3 nuðer); 2–3 neoðer, (3 neouðer); 2–3 neðer, (3 nedðer), 5 nether.
[OE. niþer = OFris. nither-, nider-, OS. niđar (MDu. and Du. neder), MLG. neder, nedder, OHG. nidar, nider (G. nieder), ON. niðr (MSw. nidher, Sw. ner, ned; MDa. nedher, Da. ned), repr. an OTeut. *niþar = Skr. nitarām, f. ni-, down, with comparative suffix.]
Down, downwards.
| Beowulf 1360 Ðær fyrᵹenstream under næssa ᵹenipu niþer ᵹewiteð. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xli. §6 Þæt tacnað þæt he sceal ma þencan up þonne nyðer. 971 Blickl. Hom. 101 Þæt flæsc afulað, & wyrmum awealleþ, & neþer afloweþ. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1012 Sloh hine þa an heora..þet he mid þam dynte niðer asah. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 He ferde fro þe fader, for þat he com neðer to helle. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 370 Niðful neddre, loð an liðer, sal gliden on hise brest neðer. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. xii. 57 Turne thiself aboue [turne þiself nether]. |
| Comb. c 960 æthelwold Rule St. Benet (Schröer) 23 æᵹðer ᵹe upstiᵹende englas ᵹe niþerstiᵹende. Ibid. Se upstiᵹe and se niþerstiᵹe. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 246 Hi ᵹefyllað twa tida mid hyra upgange oððe nyþergange. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 111 Erest he steg neoðer..: of neoðerstienge specð dauid on þe salm boc. |
▪ IV. † ˈnether, adv.3 Obs.
In 1 niðere, niþre, 3 neoðere; also in comb. 1–3 niðer-, 3 nyþer-, neoþer-.
[f. prec. = MDu. ned(e)re, OHG. nidaro (MHG. nidere), ON. niðri (MSw. nidhre, Sw. nere; MDa. nedre, Da. nede).]
Down, low down.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §13 Þæt leohte fyr..up ᵹewit, & sio hefiᵹe eorðe sit þær niðere. a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1466 Læᵹ min flæschoma in foldan bigrafen, niþre ᵹehyded. c 1205 Lay. 1982 Þa Englisce ouercomen þe Brutuns & brouhten heom þer neoðere. |
b. In Comb. = nether a.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) cxxxviii. 13 Þeh min lichama..on niðer-dælum eorðan wuniᵹe. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 173 Hie turneð..fram þe dome to helle to þe niðer wunienge. c 1290 St. Brandan 527 in S.E. Leg. I. 234 To is chin tilde þe neoþer [v.r. niþer] ende. |
▪ V. nether
var. of nither v.; obs. f. neither.