nether

nether · adjective, adverb, proper noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ni-
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*niþer
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*niþer
4. Old English · inherited fromniþera“lower, under, lowest”
5. Middle English · inherited fromnether
6. English todaynether

From Middle English nether, nethere, nithere, from Old English niþera (“lower, under, lowest”, adjective), from niþer, niþor (“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”, adverb), from Proto-West Germanic *niþer, from Proto-Germanic *niþer, *niþra (“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *ni-, *nei- (“in, down”). Cognates include Dutch neder, German nieder, Luxembourgish nidder, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish ned (“down”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish nedre (“lower”), Faroese and Icelandic niður.

nether · verb, noun²

1. Old English · inherited fromniþerian“to depress, abase, bring low, humiliate, oppress, accuse, condemn”
2. Middle English · inherited fromnitheren
3. English todaynether

Alteration of earlier nither, from Middle English nitheren, from Old English niþerian (“to depress, abase, bring low, humiliate, oppress, accuse, condemn”), from niþer (“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”). See above.

Nether · proper noun³

From nether (“lying beneath”).

Words from the same roots