subterraneous, a. Now rare.
(sʌbtəˈreɪnɪəs)
[f. L. subterrāneus (see subterrane) + -ous.]
1. a. = subterranean a. 1 a.
| 1607 J. King Serm. 5 Nov. 29 They saie to the ground couer vs, and to a subterraneous vault, keep vs close. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. 55 Yet are they not to be closed up in the generall name of concretions, or lightly passed over as onely Elementary, and Subterraneous mixtions. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. iv. §6 Those subterraneous waters which pass up and down through the bowels of the earth. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety xii. ¶1 There are many subterraneous springs which feed this ocean. 1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea 84 The River..having run subterraneous for two Leagues, rises again. 1725 Pope Lett. (1737) VI. 69 In my garden..I have happily finished the subterraneous way and grotto. 1775 Johnson West. Isl. 164 Being subterraneous, they must be always damp. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. ii. I. 45 The subterraneous prisons were abolished. 1813 Southey Nelson II. 28 Lady Hamilton..explored..a subterraneous passage, leading from the palace to the sea side. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 227 The sources of cold..are, rain at a lower temperature than the soil,..and where draining has been neglected, subterraneous water. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 332 Let them bring together the streams in subterraneous channels. 1900 Q. Rev. July 93 The area of those subterraneous riches is limited. |
b. = subterranean a. 1 b.
| 1727 Swift Wonder Wond. Wks. 1755 II. ii. 52 Certain subterraneous nymphs. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 193 The Proteus anguineus—a creature, which is in a manner both subaqueous and subterraneous. 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & M. 51 The Subterraneous Rustic (Agrotis annexa). 1860 Smiles Self Help ii. 29 Occupying an underground cellar, over which he put up the sign, ‘Come to the subterraneous barber’. |
c. = subterranean a. 1 c.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. 34 The Stoicks who thought the souls of wise men had their habitation about the Moon, might make slight account of subterraneous deposition. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 63 Subterraneous Damps do some⁓times..grow to that over-height of fermentation, that they fire of themselves. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts (1683) 154 There can be no assured decision without an ocular exploration and subterraneous enquiry. 1703 Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1327 Venomous Steems and Damps..are frequent in Countries that abound with Minerals or Subterraneous Fires. a 1774 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 121 The subterraneous thumps of the miner's spade and pickaxe. 1803–5 Wordsw. Matron of Jedborough & her Husb. 27 He breathes a subterraneous damp. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic ix. 240 Camels are..rendered furious when they hear these subterraneous sounds. 1855 Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 49 This matter, in a melted state, has been from time to time agitated, disturbed, and forced out by subterraneous forces. |
d. = subterranean a. 1 d.
| 1777 S. Robson Brit. Flora 136 Trifolium subterraneum,..Subterraneous Trefoil. 1829 T. Castle Introd. Bot. 45 Subterraneous—when they are in the ground, as with the snow-drop and most plants. 1833 Hooker in Smith Engl. Flora V. i. 117 Perianth subterraneous oblong fleshy. |
e. = subterranean a. 1 e.
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v., Those Trees, which being left there at the Universal Deluge, are so plentifully found buried in the Earth, in many Countries, are called Subterraneous Trees, and by some Fossile-wood. 1712 Phil. Trans. XXVII. 478 The Subterraneous Trees, uncovered by an Inundation of the River of Thames in Dagenham and Havering Marshes. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Mr. Boyle gives us an Instance..of a huge Subterraneous Oak dug out of a Salt Mine in Transylvania. 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 346 The subterraneous ‘Flora’ of a geological formation. 1887 Cassell s.v., Subterraneous forest. |
f. (See quot.)
| 1781 Ann. Reg. iii. 248/2 The application of the principles of ordinary geometry to the working of mines is what the author of this work calls subterraneous geometry. |
2. = subterranean a. 2.
| 1633 Prynne Histrio-m. i. 260 She obtained the subterraneous places of Hell in stead of an inheritance. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. i. §19. 19 [Pluto's] Subterraneous Cave. Ibid. iv. §17. 308 Calling him in the Starry Heaven and æther, Jupiter; in the Air, Juno; in the Winds, æolus; in the Sea, Neptune; in the Earth and Subterraneous Parts Pluto. |
3. = subterranean a. 3.
| 1660 R. Burney κέρδ. Δῶρον 130 All other leagues and combinations are subterraneous, when they either trust to or fear the Arm of flesh. 1682 2nd Plea Nonconf. 44 It was as cunning a subterraneous Conveyance for Popery, as could be thought of. 1735 H. Walpole Let. 9 Sept. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 259 These dark & subterraneous negociations w{supt}{suph} y⊇ promise of secrecy in all events. 1759 ― Mem. Geo. II (1847) III. vii. 176 He might have discovered some of Legge's subterraneous intrigues. 1856 De Quincey Confess. Pref. Notice, So obstinately has this malady pursued its noiseless, and what I may call subterraneous, siege. |