underwood

underwood · noun¹

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. Englishwood
13. English todayunderwood

From under- + wood.

Underwood · noun, proper noun²

The name is from England or Scotland, and from Middle English. The surname is sometimes habitational, used by someone who lived in any of several places of the same name. Otherwise it is topographic, referring to someone who lived near a wood. The common noun comes from the name of the manufacturer, after John T. Underwood, one of its founders.