See Also: Beneath(money)
Beneath(finance)
beneath(dictionary)
beneath(dictionary)

beneath (iou)



beneath adverb, preposition, & adjective.
[Old English biniTan, bineoTan, from bi BY preposition etc. + niTan, neoTan below, down, (orig.) from below, from Germanic base of NETHER.]
A. adverb.
gen. In a lower position; = BELOW adverb 1. OE.
Southey Pure water in a font beneath reflects The many-colour'd rays.
b. fig. Lower in rank, position, quality, etc. arch. OE.
a. Under heaven; on earth. arch. ME.
b. Under the earth; in hell. arch. ME.
Directly below; underneath. ME.
Dryden Spread with Straw, the bedding of thy Fold; With Fern beneath. D. du Maurier It was a gold chain for my keys, with a disk upon it bearing our initials,..and the date beneath.
b. preposition.
gen. In a position lower than (= BELOW preposition 1); downhill or downstream from. Now rare or obsolete. OE.
fig. Lower than in rank, position, quality, etc. OE.
Addison Beings above and beneath us have probably no Opinions at all. J. McCosh The copies ever fall beneath the original.
Unbefitting the dignity of; unworthy of. OE.
Shakespeare Twelfth Night So far beneath your soft and tender breeding. S. Bellow I shut the door with a crash, already aware, under my anger, that this was beneath me and altogether out of proportion to the provocation.
Directly down from; overhung by; at the foot of. ME.
Dryden Lands that lye beneath another Sun. W. H. Auden We see you sitting / in a wide-brimmed hat beneath a monkey-puzzle. W. Trevor In the far distance, a speck on the beach beneath the cliffs, Commander Abigail ran towards the sea.
Under, as overwhelmed by pressure; under the weight of. Often fig. ME.
Shakespeare Macbeth Our country sinks beneath the yoke. R. Bloomfield Brisk goes the work beneath each busy hand.
Immediately under; covered or concealed by. E17.
Day Lewis A scoop of sandy earth beneath a boulder. B. Bainbridge The underground spring that ran beneath the sloping street overflowed from time to time. fig.: A. Hailey Beneath his outward reaction, Nim was startled and shocked.
Phrases: beneath contempt not worth despising. beneath one's dignity: see DIGNITY 2. beneath the sun: see SUN noun1.
C. adjective. Lower. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.