Subterranean

How to spell subterranean

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce subterranean

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does subterranean mean?

1. adjectiveExisting, situated, or operating below the surface of the earth.

Subterranean in a sentence

• The city built a vast subterranean network of tunnels to ease traffic.

• Engineers mapped the subterranean pipes before approving the new development.

Where does subterranean come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin subterraneus, meaning 'underground', which was built from sub, meaning 'under' or 'below', and terra, meaning 'earth' or 'land'. The same terra root sits inside a whole family of everyday English words, including 'terrain', 'territory', 'terrace' and 'terrier', the dog originally bred to dig prey out of the ground. English adopted the word in the early 1600s, keeping the Latin shape almost intact and simply trimming the ending to the familiar -an form. The doubled r in the spelling traces straight back to terra, which is worth remembering, because the trap for adult writers is the unstressed middle that sounds like a single soft r. Picturing 'terra' inside the word keeps both r's in place and anchors the meaning of something that lies beneath the surface of the earth.

How the word is built

• sub- (under)
• terra (earth, land)
• -anean (adjective suffix)