▪ I. undern, n. Obs. exc. arch. and dial.
(ˈʌndən)
Forms: α. 1–5, 9 undern (2 unnderrn-), 3 vn-, 4 ondarne, 3, 5 on-, 4–5 underne, 4 undirne, 5 -dyrne, 4–5 undorne, 5 -dorn, 4 undurn, 4–5 undurne, 7 dial. aandorn, 9 dial. andern; 4–5 onderen, 4–5 (9) underen (4–5 -on); 2–5 undren, 4 undrin, -on, -un, 5 oundron, undrone, 9 dial. andren; Sc. ontron, auntrin, antrum, andrum, etc. β. 1–5 under (4 undur, 4–5 -yr), 4–5 vndre; 4 ondre, honder-, 6 ander-; dial. 7 oneder, 7, 9 aunder, ownder, 9 ounder, oander (ōnder), andra, etc.; 8–9 oandurth.
[Common Teutonic: OE. undern, = OFris. unden, ond (older NFris. undern; mod. unnern-e, ünjern, onner-n, önner), OS. undorn, undern (MLG. undern, LG. unden, unner; MDu. onderen, -ern, -er, Du. dial. onder), OHG. untarn, -orn, undorn (MHG. undarn, -ern, G. dial. undern, untern, unnern, onnern, etc.), ON. undorn, undarn (Norw. dial. undonn, ondaan, undaal, etc., Sw. dial. undarn, -dun, Da. dial. unden, unnen), Goth. undaurn- (in undaurnimats ἄριστον); the relationships of the stem are doubtful. In all the Germanic languages the meaning shows a parallel development to that traceable in English; where the word survives it usually denotes either midday or afternoon or a meal taken at these times.
With some variation of form, undern is common in OE. and ME. down to the 15th cent.; in later use it is restricted to dialects of the north-midland and northern counties and the south-west of Scotland. In addition to the forms given above, some northern dialects exhibit (from the 17th c.) variants with a prefixed d-, as downdrens, daundren, downder, etc. (Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Downdrins). The OE. ǽr undern also survived in dialect use, and appears as earnder, eender, etc. (see yeender), while OE. ofer undern appears in the 15th c. as orendron, ornedrone, in the 17th as orndorn, arndern, and later as ournder, orntren, etc. (Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. Undern). Both of these have equivalents in mod.N. Fris. (dialect of Sylt), viz. īrönner, īrner forenoon and aurönner, aurner afternoon.]
† 1. The third hour of the day; the time at or about 9 o'clock in the morning. In ecclesiastical use = tierce. Obs.
| α a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 3 May 72 On þa þriddan tid dæᵹes, þæt is on undern. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 140 Sele drincan on þreo tida, on undern, on middæᵹ, on non. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 117 Riht to-genes þe undrene;..þo com a dine of heuene. c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 33 Þat ferst uut-yede bi þe Moreghen;..so ha dede at undren and at midday also. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 4168 Þus to gederes þai gonne dinge Fram prime til vnderne gan to ringe. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 18 Bituex vnderon & noen was þe feld alle wonnen. 1382 Wyclif Acts ii. 15 Whanne it is the thridde our of the day, or vndirne. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xi. ii. 574 They lay to gyders vntyl vndorne on the morn. [1855 Rock in N. & Q. XI. 150/1 The high mass..for Sunday was celebrated immediately after undern or tierce.] |
| β a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 540, Steorran heo ætewdon ful neh healfe tid ofer under. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2496, I Nouembres moneð, þe fif & twentuðe dei, & Fridei, onont te under. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xii. 41 In marewe men he sohte, At under mo he brohte. c 1315 Shoreham ii. 72 Crucyfige! crucifige! Gredden hy at ondre. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 513 Aboute vnder, þe lorde to marked tos & ydel men stande he fyndez þer-ate. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 66 A husband-man ȝede..at pryme, and eftsones at vndyr, and efte at mydday,..and hyryd men to his vyneȝorde. |
† b. high undern (see high a. 11). Also half undern, whole undern (see quot. c 1440). Obs.
| c 960 Rule St. Benedict xlviii. 74 From ærmorᵹenne oð heane undern [L. ad tertiam plenam]. c 1275 Passion of our Lord 657 in O.E. Misc. 56 At þon heye vndarne a witsuneday. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4059 Come þou home at hygh vndurne, And no lenger yn þe felde soiurne. 13.. Floriz & Bl. 555 Bi þat hit was undern hiȝ, Floris was þe brigge niȝ. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 250 He..lay..Til it was undren hih and more. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 226 Half vndron hath but ix [feet]; High vndron vj. Ibid. vii. 254 Half vndern viij, hool vndern v. [= L. hora tertia and hora quarta]. |
† c. With addition of dayes (also day) or of the day. Obs.
| c 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1122, Þa wearð swiðe mycel wind fram þa undern dæies to þa swarte nihte. a 1225 Ancr. R. 24 Seoue psalmes..siggeð abuten undern deies. c 1290 Beket 2445 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 176 A-boute onderne of þe daie to þis holi bones heo come. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 402 Stille he lay Til it was passed vndren of the day. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 149 Þai will hyde þam in þe erthe fra vndrun of þe day til efter noone. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 138 in Macro Plays 81 Loke þat ȝe be þere be-tyme,..for we schul be onward be vnderne of þe day. a 1500 E.E. Misc. (Warton Cl.) 10 At under day to skole I was i-sete. |
† 2. The sixth hour of the day; midday. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 16741 Bi þis was vndren [Laud MS. vnder] on þe dai, Þat mirckend al þe light. 13.. Gosp. Nicodemus 657 At vnderon was þis done, omang þam wex it mirk. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 41 Late lewid freris seie..for prime, tierce, vndren & noon, for eche of hem seuene pater nostris. 1382 ― John iv. 6 Sothli the our was, as the sixte, or vndurn. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 511/1 Vnderne..submeridianum, submesimbria. 1493 Festivall 7 An husbounde man went in to his gardeyn or vyne yerde at pryme and ayen at vndren or myddaye. (Cf. Mirk's Festial 66.) |
3. The afternoon or evening. Now dial.
| α 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xix. 242 Vpon the morowe he took his hors and rode vn-tyl vnderne,..and bitoke his hors to the dwarf, and commaunded hym to watche al nyghte. 1811 W. Aiton Surv. Ayrs. Gloss. 693 Ontron, evening. 1858 Morris Def. Guenevere, etc. 206 Summer cometh to an end; Undern cometh after noon. |
| β c 1480 Childe of Bristowe 235 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 119 Betwene mydday and under ther cam a blast of lightnyng and dunder. 1674 Ray N. Co. Words, The Aunder, or as they pronounce it in Cheshire, Oneder; The afternoon. 1684 Meriton Yorks. Dial. 46 To Morn ith' Ownder we mun dod our Sheep. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. (1775) 16 Th' last oandurth boh one me Measter had lik't o killt meh. 1820 R. Wilbraham Cheshire Gloss. 49 Ownder, or Aunder, the afternoon. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. I. 13 Aunder, afternoon. Nearly extinct in Craven. 1841 Hartshorne Salop. Ant. 525 Ownder, the evening... A word in general acceptation on the banks of the Severn, betwixt Shrewsbury and Bridgenorth. 1879–81 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. 309 In places where this term obtains the day is divided into morning, middle of the day, ōnder, and night. |
4. dial. A light or intermediate meal, esp. one taken in the afternoon. (Cf. anders-meat.)
| 1691 Nicolson in Ray N. Co. Words 139 Aandorn, Merenda. 1866–86 in Lincolnsh. glossaries (in forms andern, andren, andra, andrew). 1880 C. H. Poole Gloss. Stafford 17 Ounder,..an afternoon tea. 1887 Darlington S. Chesh. Gloss. 278 Oanders, the afternoon meal, often sent out in harvest time to the labourers in the fields. 1887 Suppl. Jamieson s.v. Andrum and Antrum. |
5. attrib., as undern-bell, undern-song [OE. -sang, -song].
See also under-meal, undern-tide, -time.
| a 1400 Sir Beues 2250 So stod Beues in þat þring, Til noun [v.r. vndern] belle be-gan to ring. 1478–9 in Peck Desiderata Curiosa (1732) I. vi. 36 That no Person..set ther Corn to sale afore the Hour of Ten of the Bell, or els the Undernone [sic] Bell be rongyng. [1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers III. ii. 180 Every Sunday before undern-song or tierce.] |
▪ II. † unˈdern, a. Obs.
[OE. undyrne: see dern a.]
Not hidden; open.
| a 1225 Juliana 75 Ȝe schulen..reopen ripe of þat sed þat ȝe her seowen, þat is underne ȝeld of wa, oðer of wunne. |