Etymology

underachieve

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Today it means: To achieve less than expected; to fail to fulfil one's potential. Full definition →

English achieve ← Middle English achieven ← Old English under-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Middle Englishachieven
  13. Englishachieve
  14. English todayunderachieve

From under- + achieve.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.