Undermine

How to spell undermine

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce undermine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does undermine mean?

1. verbTo weaken, damage, or sabotage something gradually and often secretly.
2. verbTo dig or wear away the base or foundation beneath something.

Undermine in a sentence

• Constant criticism can undermine a manager's authority over time.

• The river continued to undermine the soft clay along the bank.

• Leaking the figures early would undermine the whole negotiation.

• Heavy rain can undermine the footings of an old retaining wall.

Where does undermine come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English compound built from the Old English prefix 'under', meaning 'beneath' or 'below', joined to the verb 'mine', meaning 'to dig'. The verb 'mine' came into English from the Old French 'miner', 'to dig', which traces back to a Latin and ultimately Celtic root for a vein of ore or a tunnel. In its earliest use, around the 1300s, to undermine was strictly literal and military: attackers would dig tunnels beneath the walls of a fortress so that the foundations collapsed. From that vivid image of secretly excavating away the support beneath something, the figurative sense of gradually weakening, sabotaging, or eroding the strength of a person, plan, or authority grew up. The spelling stays transparent because both parts are familiar everyday words, which is why the word rarely trips writers despite its three syllables.

How the word is built

• under- (beneath)
• mine (to dig a tunnel or excavate)