UNDERLIE

underlie

(verb) be or form the base for

underlie

(verb) lie underneath

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

underlie (third-person singular simple present underlies, present participle underlying, simple past underlay, past participle underlain)

(intransitive) To lie in a position directly beneath.

(transitive) To lie under or beneath.

(transitive) To serve as a basis of; form the foundation of.

(transitive) To be subject to; be liable to answer, as a charge or challenge.

(mining) To underlay.

Source: Wiktionary


Un`der*lie", v. t. Etym: [AS. underlicgan. See Under, and Lie to be prostrate.]

1. To lie under; to rest beneath; to be situated under; as, a stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.

2. To be at the basis of; to form the foundation of; to support; as, a doctrine underlying a theory.

3. To be subject or amenable to. [R.] The knight of Ivanhoe . . . underlies the challenge of Brian der Bois Guilbert. Sir W. Scott.

Un`der*lie", v. i.

Definition: To lie below or under.

Un"der*lie`, n.

Definition: See Underlay, n., 1.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 June 2025

PUNGENCY

(noun) wit having a sharp and caustic quality; “he commented with typical pungency”; “the bite of satire”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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