Nether
/ˈnɛðər/noun
Situated beneath or lower; the lower part of something.
Did you know?In Old English, nether was a normal comparative meaning “lower,” but its deep ancestry also survives in the word under and in the eerie sense of the “netherworld.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*n̥tero-
“lower, beneath”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*nitheraz
“lower, downward”
Old English
OE
neothera / niðera
“lower”
Middle English
ME
nether
“lower; situated below”
Modern English
English
nether
“lower; underworld-like or beneath”