ˈunderling, n. and a.
Forms: 2– underling (3–7 vnder-, 4 vndir-); 2 undur-, 4–6 vnderlyng (5 vndir-, vndyr-); 4 undur-, 4–6 underlynge; 3–4 onderling, -lyng.
[Early ME., f. under adv. 3 + -ling.]
A. n.
1. One who is subject or subordinate to another; in later use esp. a subordinate agent or official, an understrapper.
| c 1175 Leg. Nathan in E.E. Hom. (1917) 89 Heo..ȝet synden underlinges, for þan þe heo heora hlaford belæwden. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 179 Þe riche þe ben louerdinges struien þe wrecche men, þe ben underlinges. a 1225 Ancr. R. 198 Þet child þet ne buhð nout his eldre; vnderling, his prelat; paroschian, his preost. c 1275 Lay. 22472 Alcus hehte þe king: he hadde mani onderlyng. c 1315 Shoreham Poems iii. 176 Þou ne a-nourest god aryȝt, Ac dest is onderlynges. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 128 The sterres..worchen manye sondri thinges To ous, that ben here underlinges. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 2640 My lord,..I am ȝoure knyght and ȝoure vndirlyng. a 1470 Harding Chron. xxxix. iv, Emman..reigned in all kynde of tiranny, For whiche he was deposed, as an vnderlyng. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. Pref. A iv, What manne..would not rather loke to rule like a lord, then to lyve lyke an underlynge? 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 226 The seruice that an underling..oweth to his Lord..is neither greeuous nor tedious. 1619 W. Sclater Exp. 1 Thess. (1630) 259 Compare thy selfe with superiours, rather then with vnderlings in Grace. 1693 Apol. Clergy Scot. 102 In the next Paragraph he mentions Mr. Cant, whom he names underling to Mr. Hamilton. 1727 De Foe Prot. Monast. 9 To hear the Daughter..take up her Father in his Discourse, as if he had been an Idiot or an Underling. 1796 Ld. Sheffield in Ld. Auckland's Corr. (1862) III. 357 What chance have we..when the House of Commons is filled with moneyed men, speculators, and underlings in office? 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Napoleon, He undoubtedly felt..an impatience of fools and underlings. 1878 Stubbs Const. Hist. III. xviii. 136 The work of an underling who hoped to secure his own promotion. |
| transf. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. xii. 153 Epaminondas..gaue vnto Thebes, which had euer-more beene an vnderling,..the highest command in Greece. |
b. A branch, plant, etc., growing under, or less strongly than, another; a small or weakly plant, animal, or child. Now dial.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury II. 84/2 The Cyons..are underlings, or small twigs of a years growth. 1787 W. H. Marshall Norfolk II. 148 When one of them has got the superiority so far as to overhang the other, it is generally right to take the underling away. 1842 C. W. Johnson Farmer's Encycl. 1255 Of the Weeds called Underlings, or such as never rise in the Crop:..These are groundsel [etc.]. 1854 A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss. s.v., The least thriving in a litter of pigs, or brood of chickens, is frequently called ‘a poor little underling’. Fruit or vegetables smaller than the rest of the crop are called underlings. |
2. In predicative use, passing into adj.: Subject, subordinate (to a person, etc.).
| ? 1370 Robt. Cisyle 55 He was to alle men undurlynge, So lowe was never ȝyt no kynge! c 1440 Promp. Parv. 511/1 Vnderlynge, subditus, infimus. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 187 Þeras he was befor..prowde of hert, aftyr he was lowe and vndyrlyng to al Godys seruantys. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. xi. 3 b, Albeit the husbande be the wiues gouernour, yet is he vnderlyng and subiect to Christe his lorde and maister. 1598 Marston Sco. Villanie viii, Can our Soule Be underling to such a vile controule? 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 187 Lilis..would not be vnderling, and Adam would not endure her his equall. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. xlvii. 124 A league of cohabitation should be made between the two Swords, though the spirituall were for the present underling. |
b. Similarly in attributive use.
| 1615–6 Boys Wks. (1629) 135 The Lord of all submitted himselfe to the gouernment of his supposed father, and vnderling mother. 1657 J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 265 We underling Shepheards and Pastours may imitate our Paramount Shepheard and Pastour. 1693 Apol. Clergy Scot. 104 The underling Pedlars amongst the Presbyterians may write what they please. 1714 Pope Lett. (1735) I. 205 There are indeed, a Sort of underling Auxiliars to the Difficulty of a Work, call'd Commentators and Critics. 1764 Foote Patron 1, By..underling bards, that he feeds; and broken book⁓sellers, that he bribes. 1802–12 Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) IV. 577 The underling sort of lawyer whom the judge punishes every day without scruple. |
B. adj.
1. Undersized, small, weak. (Cf. underline a.)
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 410 The underling hog put up with the rest, is longest a fatting. 1742 Lond. & Country Brewer iii. (ed. 2) 172 Seven Quarters of these underling Kernels. 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorks. II. 72 [The flax] remains weak, short, and underling. 1840 in Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. (1841) II. i. 120 Many short or underling straws, as they are here [sc. Pusey, Berks.] called. |
2. Low-growing.
| 1830 Macgillivray Withering's Brit. Plants II. 548 In gardens and other cultivated lands, it often proves a most troublesome underling weed. |
3. Trivial, unimportant.
| 1804 Southey in Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) 481 While they can employ me more to their own advantage in little underling works. |