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Webster 1913 Edition

Nether

Neth′er

(nĕth′ẽr)
,
Adj.
[OE.
nethere
,
neithere
, AS.
niðera
, fr. the adv.
niðer
downward; akin to
neoðan
below, beneath, D.
neder
down, G.
nieder
, Sw.
nedre
below, nether, a. & adv., and also to Skr.
ni
down. √201. Cf.
Beneath
.]
Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; – opposed to
upper
.
’Twixt upper,
nether
, and surrounding fires.
Milton.
This darksome
nether
world her light
Doth dim with horror and deformity.
Spenser.
All my
nether
shape thus grew transformed.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Nether

NETHER

,
Adj.
[This word is of the comparative degree; the positive occurs only in composition, as in beneath. It is used only in implied comparison, as in the nether part, the nether millstone; but we never say, one part is nether than another. It is not much used.]
1.
Lower; lying or being beneath or in the lower part; opposed to upper; as the nether millstone.
Distorted all my nether shape thus grew transformd.
2.
In a lower place.
Twixt upper, nether and surrounding fires.
3.
Belonging to the regions below.

Definition 2024

nether

nether

See also: nether-

English

Adjective

nether ‎(comparative nethermore, superlative nethermost)

  1. Lower; under.
    The disappointed child’s nether lip quivered.
  2. Lying beneath, or conceived as lying beneath, the Earth’s surface.
    The nether regions.
    • 1873, Mark Twain, The Gilded Age, page187:
      When one thinks of the tremendous forces of the upper and the nether world which play for the mastery of the soul of a woman during the few years in which she passes from plastic girlhood to the ripe maturity of womanhood,
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Adverb

nether ‎(comparative more nether, superlative most nether)

  1. Down; downward.
  2. Low; low down.

Etymology 2

Alteration of earlier nither, from Middle English nitheren, from Old English niþerian ‎(“to depress, abase, bring low, humiliate, oppress, accuse, condemn”), from Old English niþer ‎(“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”). See above.

Alternative forms

Verb

nether ‎(third-person singular simple present nethers, present participle nethering, simple past and past participle nethered)

  1. (transitive, Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To bring or thrust down; bring or make low; lower; abase; humble.
  2. (transitive, Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To constrict; straiten; confine; restrict; suppress; lay low; keep under; press in upon; vex; harass; oppress.
  3. (transitive, Britain dialectal, Scotland) To pinch or stunt with cold or hunger; check in growth; shrivel; straiten.
  4. (transitive, Britain dialectal, Scotland) To shrink or huddle, as with cold; be shivery; tremble.
  5. (transitive, Britain dialectal, Scotland) To depreciate; disparage; undervalue.
Derived terms
  • nethering

Noun

nether ‎(plural nethers)

  1. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) Oppression; stress; a withering or stunting influence.
  2. (mining) A trouble; a fault or dislocation in a seam of coal.

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English nether, nethere, nithere, from Old English niþera ‎(“lower, under, lowest”, adjective), from niþer, niþor ‎(“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”, adverb), from Proto-Germanic *niþer, *niþra ‎(“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *ni-, *nei- ‎(“in, down”); akin to Old Saxon adjective nithiri ‎(“nether”), adverb nithar ‎(“down”), Old High German adjective nidari, nidaro ‎(“nether”), adverb nidar ‎(“down”) (see German nieder), Old Dutch nither (see Dutch neder) Old Norse adjective neðri, neðarri ‎(“nether”), adverb niðr ‎(“down”); all from a Germanic word that is a comparative of a word akin to Sanskrit नि ‎(ni, “down”), Albanian nën ‎(“under, in”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /nɛð.ə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /nɛð.ɚ/
  • Rhymes: -ɛðə(r)

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