Below

How to spell below

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce below

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does below mean?

1. prepositionAt or to a lower position than something else, or less than a stated amount.
2. adverbAt or to a lower place, or further down in a piece of writing.

Below in a sentence

• preposition

  The temperature dropped below freezing overnight.

• adverb

  The full terms are listed below for your reference.

• preposition

  Her office is on the floor below mine.

• adverb

  From the balcony we watched the crowd gather below.

Where does below come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Below is a native English formation that first appears in writing in the late 1300s, built from the old prefix be-, meaning roughly 'by' or 'about', joined to the adjective 'low'. The 'low' element came into English from the Old Norse word lagr, meaning 'low' or 'humble', brought over during the centuries of Norse settlement in Britain. The whole word grew up as a more emphatic alternative to the older 'alow', following the same pattern that produced 'beside', 'beneath', and 'between'. Because the spelling simply stacks the familiar prefix onto the familiar word 'low', there are no surprises: it stays a single word with one 'l' and an 'ow' ending, never 'belowe' or 'beelow'. That transparent construction is what keeps below one of the more reliable words in the language to spell.

How the word is built

• be- (by, intensive prefix)
• low (from Old Norse lagr: low)