Underlying
adjectiveExisting as a fundamental cause or basis that is not immediately obvious on the surface.
How to spell underlying
10 letters · 4 syllables
How to pronounce underlying
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does underlying mean?
- adjectiveExisting as a fundamental cause or basis that is not immediately obvious on the surface.
Underlying in a sentence
-
The doctor ran tests to find the underlying cause of the fatigue.
-
The report ignored the underlying problems in the company's finances.
Where does underlying come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word is built from the Old English elements 'under', meaning 'beneath' or 'lower than', and the verb 'licgan', meaning 'to lie' or 'to be in a resting position'. The compound verb 'underlie' literally described one thing lying physically beneath another, such as a layer of rock supporting the soil above it. From that concrete spatial sense English gradually developed the figurative meaning still in use today: a cause, principle, or condition that sits hidden beneath what is visible on the surface. The present participle 'underlying' came to serve as an adjective for anything fundamental but not immediately obvious. A useful spelling reminder is that the base verb 'lie' loses its silent 'e' and the 'ie' becomes 'y' before the '-ing' ending, exactly as in 'die' becoming 'dying'.
How the word is built
- under- (beneath)
- lie (to be situated)
- -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)
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