Etymology

underpay

U1N1D2E1R1P3A1Y4

Today it means: To pay (someone) less than the value of their work; to pay (someone) insufficiently. Full definition →

English pay ← Middle English payen ← Old French paiier
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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. Proto-Indo-European*peh₂ḱ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂ḱs
  14. Proto-Italic*pāks
  15. Latinpāx
  16. Latinpācō
  17. Old Frenchpaiier
  18. Middle Englishpayen
  19. Englishpay
  20. English todayunderpay

From under- + pay.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.