below
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (UK) IPA(key): /bɪˈləʊ/
Audio (UK): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /bɪˈloʊ/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: be‧low
- Rhymes: -əʊ
Preposition
[edit]below
- Lower in spatial position than.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
- The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
- The marmalade is on the shelf below the bread.
- Lower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.
- 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- one degree below kings
- 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
- Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.
- The temperature is below zero.
- Liverpool are below Manchester City in the Premier League.
- Downstream of.
- The River Thames is tidal below Teddington Lock.
- South of.
- Sudan is below Egypt.
- Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
- 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:
- They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were.
- 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
- who thinks no fact below his regard
- Such petty behavior is below me.
- (stage directions) Downstage of.
- 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
- Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.
- 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
Synonyms
[edit]- (lower in spatial position than): beneath, under, underneath
- (lower in value than): under
- (downstream of): downstream
- (unsuitable to the rank or dignity of): beneath
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “lower in spatial position than”): above, over
- (antonym(s) of “lower in value than”): above, over
- (antonym(s) of “downstream of”): upstream
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]lower in spatial position than
|
lower in value than
|
downstream of
south of
|
unsuitable to the rank or dignity of
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Adverb
[edit]below (not comparable)
- In or to a lower place.
- The town is situated on a hillside, with a river running below.
- He was pulled below by a sea monster.
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
- But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection.
[…] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, […].
- Later in the same text.
- This point is explained below.
- By their execution hereof, the Parties incur a legal obligation to pass consideration under this Loan Contract as is set forth below.
- (of a temperature) Below zero.
- It was forty degrees below.
Synonyms
[edit]- (in a lower place): beneath, under, underneath
- (on a lower storey): downstairs
- (farther down): downwards
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “in a lower place”): aloft, overhead, up
- (antonym(s) of “on a lower storey”): upstairs
- (antonym(s) of “farther down”): upwards
Derived terms
[edit]- below average
- below decks/belowdecks
- below ground
- belowground
- belowness
- below par
- below-stairs
- below stairs
- belowstairs
- below the belt
- below the breadline
- below the fold
- below the gangway
- below the line
- below the radar
- below the salt
- below the surface
- come from below
- cut below
- down below
- fall below
- go below
- here below
- hereinbelow
- hit below one's weight
- keep one's head below the parapet
- macron below
- punch below one's weight
- scratch below the surface
- send below
- Tribeca
Translations
[edit]in a lower place
|
on a lower storey
farther down
|
of a temperature: below zero
later in the same text
|
References
[edit]- Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms prefixed with be-
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊ
- Rhymes:English/əʊ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English prepositions
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English adverbs
- English uncomparable adverbs
- en:Nautical
- English locatives