underpayment

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noun

An insufficient payment

OriginEnglish payment ← Middle English under- ← Old English under- →
UncommonScrabble 20
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Meanings

noununderpayment (countable and uncountable, plural underpayments)

plural underpayments

  1. countableuncountableAn insufficient payment
  2. countableuncountableThe act of making such a payment
  3. countableuncountableThe amount by which a payment is insufficient

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
short payment

Origin

  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. Englishpayment
  13. Englishunderpayment

From under- + payment.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

underpayment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underpayment

MLA

“underpayment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underpayment. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “underpayment,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underpayment.

Source: underpayment on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.