subterranean, a. and n.
(sʌbtəˈreɪnɪən)
[f. L. subterrāneus (see subterrane) + -an.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of inanimate objects: Existing, lying, or situated below the surface of the earth; formed or constructed underground, either by nature or by the hand of man; underground.
| 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 747 Their further inquiery, whether there are not Subterranean trees growing under earth. a 1625 Chaloner Six Serm. (1629) 24 Even the Labyrinthes of Dedalus haue left their subterranean habitations. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 95 [The Caspian Sea] has no..entercourse with any Sea, except (as is credible) it be subterranean, into the Euxine. 1712 Blackmore Creation i. 34 Tell, by..what subterranean Ways, Back to the Fountain's Head the Sea conveys The refluent Rivers. 1718 Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. II. xlix. 64, I was..led into one of the subterranean apartments, which they call ‘The Stables of the Elephants’. 1835 Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 4) IV. 6 The relative date of rocks formed in the subterranean regions during the Newer Pliocene ages. Ibid. Index 450 Subterranean lava causes elevation of land. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 316 In 1685 the tin of Cornwall..was still one of the most valuable subterranean productions of the island. 1856 Macaulay Johnson in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 8) XII. 795 His taste in cookery, formed in subterranean ordinaries and Alamode beefshops, was far from delicate. 1856 Stanley Sinai & Pal. xiv. (1858) 439 The subterranean vault, over which..the whole structure was erected. 1860 Prescott Electr. Telegr. 169 The idea of building subterranean lines in this country! 1863 Dana Man. Geol. 647 Subterranean streams, which have their rise in hills and mountains, and are fed, like the surface-rivers, by the rains and snows. 1877 Northcote Rom. Catac. i. v. 71 The ceilings of their subterranean chapels. 1878 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 685/1 Along the French coast several subterranean affluents of the Mediterranean have been discovered. |
b. Of animate beings: Living or working under ground.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. i. ii, Of these sublunary Diuels, Psellus makes six kindes, fiery, aeriall, terrestriall, watery, and subterranean Diuels. 1642 Howell Twelve Treat. (1661) 50 Ther were subterranean invisible troups (at Ragland Castle) mustered under-ground in Wales. 1753 Richardson Grandison (1754) VI. ix, Subterranean colliers, tinners, [&c.] 1835 Kirby Creat. Anim. II. 420 Baron Humboldt has given an account of a wonderful eruption of subterranean fishes. |
c. Of physical phenomena, forces or movements, actions, etc.: Operating or performed under ground.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1190 The casting up aloft into the aire of stones & cinders by subterranean windes under the earth. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 231 When the force Of subterranean wind transports a Hill Torn from Pelorus. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. Pref. 6 All rocks or strata have been either formed or consolidated by central subterranean fire. 1825 Scott Betrothed xxiv, Immured as she seemed to be, to perish by a strange and subterranean death. 1829 ― Anne of G. ii, A noise like subterranean thunder. 1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. 585 The same localities..were during later periods influenced by more gradual and continual subterranean expansion. 1877 Huxley Physiogr. 186 This region is peculiarly subject to subterranean disturbances. |
d. Bot. Of parts of a plant: Growing under ground.
| 1839 Lindley Introd. Bot. (ed. 3) 491 Subterranean.., growing under the earth. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §70 Stems have been divided into aerial, or stems which appear wholly or partially above ground; and subterranean, or those which are entirely under ground. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 349 The subterranean shoots of the rhizome. |
e. Of trees or a forest: Buried in the earth.
| 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. 11 On the coast of Lincolnshire and part of Yorkshire there is a subterranean forest about seventeen feet under the present high-water mark. |
2. Existing under the earth; belonging to the lower regions or underworld; infernal.
| 1619 Gorges tr. Bacon's Wisd. Anc. 156 He [Pluto] caught vp Proserpina..and caried her away with him in his Coach to the Subterranean dominions. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 20 Feb. 1645, The celestial, terrestrial, and subterranean deities. a 1806 Horsley Serm. xx. (1816) II. 176 The consolation which the preaching of our Lord in the subterranean regions afforded to these prisoners of hope. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. i. i, And ye, as subterranean Apparitions are wont, vanish utterly,—leaving only a smell of sulphur! |
3. fig. Existing or working out of sight, in the dark, or secretly.
| 1651 Jane Εικων ακλαστος 230 They never pretended priviledge of Parliament further then the subterranean junto. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. vi. i. (1866) 782 His subtle, unscrupulous, and subterranean combinations of policy. 1879 Farrar St. Paul I. 570 They saw through the subterranean injustice and virulent animosity of the Jews in bringing false charges against innocent men. 1882 Lecky Eng. in 18th Cent. III. 68 The subterranean and more ignoble works of faction. 1891 Hall Caine Scapegoat xxvi, The entire town..was honeycombed with subterranean revolt. |
B. n.
1. One who lives under ground; a cave-dweller.
| 1625 B. Jonson Staple of News i. vi. 44 Her Graces Grandfather, Was Duke, and Cousin to the King of Ophyr, The Subterranean. 1691 R. Kirk Secret Commw. i. (1815) 5 These Subterraneans eat but little in their Dwellings. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. Loire 61 An anecdote..will convey a better idea..of the habitations and manners of the subterraneans. |
2. An inhabitant of the lower regions.
| 1836 I. Taylor Phys. Theory xvi. 219 That very ancient, and may we not say biblical classification of all intelligent orders, under the three heads of celestials, terrestrials, and subterraneans. |
3. An underground cave, chamber, or dwelling.
| 1797 in C. K. Paul W. Godwin (1876) I. 259 We proceeded to about the middle of the subterranean. c 1800 R. Cumberland John de Lancaster (1809) III. 251, I have..a subterranean of strong beer to set the antient Britons a-dancing on their heads. 1836 Wiseman 12 Lect. Sci. & Rev. Relig. II. 146 The hypogeæ, or subterraneans of Eilithyia. 1855 Newman Callista (1890) 333 The passage..was only one of several natural subterraneans..opening into each other. 1906 R. Whiteing Ring in the New 66 Prue found an ample subterranean, neatly furnished. |
b. fig. pl. Depths.
| 1912 Engl. Rev. Dec. 27 Down into subterraneans within myself that were positively frightening. |