Etymology

understeer

U1N1D2E1R1S1T1E1E1R1

Today it means: The condition in which the front wheels of a car fail to follow the desired curve while cornering, instead following more of a straight-line trajectory, losing a degree of traction, and so slipping off the required line. Full definition →

English steer ← Middle English under- ← 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. Englishsteer
  13. English todayundersteer

From under- + steer.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.