† lowern.2
Obsolete.
Reward, recompense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > reciprocal treatment or return of an action > reward or a reward > [noun]
shipec1000
rightOE
yielda1200
hire?c1225
foryieldinga1300
tithinga1300
rentc1300
lowera1325
guerdon?a1366
recompensationa1382
retributionc1384
reward?1387
reguerdona1393
rewardon?a1400
mercimonyc1400
pensionc1400
remunerationc1400
recompensec1425
wardonc1480
salary1484
premiationa1513
requital1556
repayment1561
requite1561
renumeration1572
remisea1578
lieu1592
reguerdonment1599
gratulation1611
muneration1611
requit1786
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) xxxii. 94 Were he dude hit ore non, ant in wat maner, ant þoru woem, ant for wat lower, ant for wat encheson.
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 371 Þurth ous þou art in þi power; Ȝif ous now our lower.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 5368 Ser, if þou lessen my life na lowere þou wynnes.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin iii. 59 A knyght axed his body when he was deed vpon the seide crosse, and it was graunted hym of Pilate in lower of his servyse.
c1540 Image Ipocrysy i, in J. Skelton Poet. Wks. (1843) II. 415 Thoughe Christ be the doer, They force not of his looer, They sett therby no stoore.
1568 (a1500) Colkelbie Sow i. 81 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 284 A Iaper A Iuglour A lafe þat luvis bot for lour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
loweradj.n.1adv.
/ˈləʊə/, U.S. /ˈloʊər/α. early Middle English lahere, early Middle English lahȝhre ( Ormulum), early Middle English lahre, Middle English laȝghere (west midlands), Middle English lagher (northern and north-west midlands), Middle English laugher (northern), Middle English lavgher (northern, in a late copy); Scottish 1700s– laigher, 1800s leigher, 1800s– laicher, 1800s– leucher.
β. early Middle English louwore, early Middle English lowure, Middle English lowar, Middle English lowere, Middle English lowyr, Middle English– lower, 1700s loar, 1800s louer (English regional (Yorkshire)); Scottish pre-1700 lowar, pre-1700 1700s– lower.
γ. Middle English loȝer, Middle English logher, Middle English loghere, Middle English louȝer, Middle English–1500s lougher; English regional 1800s lofter (Devon), 1800s– loffer (northern and north midlands), 1800s– logher (Lancashire), 1800s– luffer.
δ. Chiefly northern and midlands Middle English lauer, Middle English lawar, Middle English lawer, Middle English lawere, Middle English lawier (northern, in a late copy); Scottish pre-1700 lauer, pre-1700 lavar, pre-1700 lawar, pre-1700 laware, pre-1700 lawer.
A. adj. The comparative of low adj.
I. As an ordinary comparative, in attributive and predicative use.
1. More low (in various senses). Frequently with than.Expressing both a greater absolute lowness (see, e.g., quot. 1884) and purely relative lowness (see, e.g., quots. 1952, 2004).
ΚΠ
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3746 Lasse þann hiss enngell. & lahȝhre inoh.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 374 Hwa se of engel lihteð to iwurðen lahre þen a beast,..loki hu ha spede!
a1325 Rogationtide (Corpus Cambr.) l. 35 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 162 Þe feste of þe Rouysons þe lasse Letanie is For a lasse man it byuond..For a bissop louwore þanne þe pope hom made verst forþ go.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xiii. 101 A man is imaad in þe myddel to be lower þan an angel and hiere þan oþir bestis.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9467 Sua hei na-thing was euer wroght, þat..ne moght Fald dun in to lagher [Gött. lauer] state.
c1450 tr. Secreta Secret. (Royal) 39 Of whiche lougher men in degre mowe lerne gret..doctryne.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 58 Yai said successioun of kyngrik Was nocht to lawer feys lik.
?1542 H. Brinkelow Complaynt Roderyck Mors vi. sig. B7v Whan rentys went at a moch lower pryce.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xxvi. 40 They wald with nobill men be nemmit, Syne laittandly to lawar leinde.
1611 C. Tourneur Atheist's Trag. (new ed.) v. sig. K3v My pouertie compels my life to a condition lower then my birth or breeding.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 76 And in the lowest deep a lower deep Still threatning to devour me opens wide. View more context for this quotation
1717 E. Barlow Exact Surv. Tide 186 From the Higher Situation of the Atlantick, into the Lower of the Mediterranean Sea.
1740 Ld. Baltimore in Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 586/1 The Estimate of the Navy is..lower indeed than that which was laid before us the last Session.
1774 T. Hutchinson Diary 7 Oct. in P. O. Hutchinson Diary & Lett. T. Hutchinson (1883) 257 The people of Norfolk are generally of a lower size, and very few tall.
1790 World 13 Apr. 2/2 On the lower Cards of the suit, each kingdom is described.
1838 W. E. Parry Narr. Attempt to reach North Pole 1827 174 (App. V.) The zero of the scale being placed to the East of North, the higher numbers indicate the greatest westerly position of the north end of the needle, and the lower numbers the most eastern limit of the same.
1847 J. Yeowell Chron. Anc. Brit. Church vii. 73 It seems difficult to place their origin at a lower period than the apostolic age.
1861 A. Trollope Orley Farm (1862) I. xxxii. 254 Hush-sh-sh. For heaven's sake, Mr. Mason, do be a little lower.
1884 tr. Princess Alice in Alice Grand Duchess of Hesse 308 I feel lower and sadder than ever.
1933 A. W. Barton Text Bk. Heat vi. 114 The freezing point of a solution is always lower than that of the pure solvent.
1952 J. A. Steers et al. Lake's Physical Geogr. (ed. 3) ii. iii. 179 High tide is lower and low tide higher than usual.
1962 E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches (1963) 87 Half Quarter Repeater, a repeater watch or clock which..strikes the last hour on a lower note.
1998 J. Irving Widow for One Year 74 The ceiling of the squash court was lower than regulation size.
2004 R. Irwin Tips & Traps When Buying Home (ed. 3) 221 The compromise offer is..higher than the lowball, but still far lower than what the seller is asking.
2011 Daily Tel. 28 July 20/5 The public is hardly likely to form a lower opinion of him.
II. Classifying something as lying in a lower position or at a lower level within a whole or system. Contrasted with upper or higher. Usually attributive.
2. Usually opposed to upper.
a. Designating the bottom part, section, etc., of a person or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adjective] > lowest
nethemesteOE
nethereOE
netherestc1350
lowerc1384
nethermosta1387
lowest1538
lowermost1547
lowmost1548
undermost1555
downmostc1600
bottommost1694
downermost1831
nadiral1891
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Ezek. xlii. 5 Thei baren vp the porchis that of hem apperiden of the lower partis [L. de inferioribus], and of the mydlis of beeldyng.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Psalms cxxxviii. 15 Mi boon, which thou madist in priuete, is not hyd fro thee; and my substaunce in the lower partis of erthe.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 18v Bi þe haunches bene vnderstond here þe lowar partieȝ of the wombe.
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. Av The great world..deuydyd..In to two regyons wherof on I call The etheriall region..The lower region callyd the elementall.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man v. f. 73v It lightly obtaineth aboue the lower part of the splene certaine foldes, or inflexures.
1608 T. Middleton Mad World, my Masters iii. sig. E4v The lower part of a gentlewomans gowne, with a maske and a chinclout.
1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 1 He was exceeding feeble in his lower parts.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth V. 50 The lower part of the neck..is covered with still smaller feathers.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho IV. xii. 227 The forests of pine and chestnut, that swept down the lower region of the mountains.
1825 Lancet 7 May 137/1 The Norwegian rat or brown rat is most fond of the lower parts of the house.
1879 tr. E. Haeckel Evol. Man II. xvii. 97 Of the earlier and lower section, that of the Skull-less, the Amphioxus is alone extant.
1929 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 56 309 The necrotized inoculum may be seen in the pith in the lower section of the stem.
1967 Musical Times 108 452/2 Inserting shafts to lift the keyboard, pipes, and upper half of the case off the lower part.
1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton xii. 347/2 The lower bit of Deedy Lane was..earmarked for infill.
b. Designating something less high in position than, or situated below, another (or others) of the same kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adjective] > lower in position
netherOE
nethermorea1382
downwarda1400
inferial?a1475
inferior?a1475
subject?a1475
lower1611
subordinate1648
female1652
lowermore1663
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. xxi. 667 When þe mone [is] in the lowere cours, water bygynneþ to wany [MS wavy; L. diminui] and ebbe.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 14 The lower roundnes is double..as if it war a double polhille.
a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 106 If the lower lippe lolle outward, Lexus seith that it shewith an il-tonged man.
c1514 in Mariner's Mirror (1960) 46 202 From the lower overlope to the carlyn of the upper overlope 6 foott.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. vi. 16 With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. View more context for this quotation
1669 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) II. 558 There shalbe sufficient vpright iron barrs in all the lights of all the lower windowes.
a1738 R. Helsham Course Lect. Nat. Philos. (1739) xvi. 256 By the running in of the water the air contained in the lower fountain is crowded into a smaller space.
1739 J. Sparrow tr. H. F. Le Dran Observ. Surg. xi. 44 The Corner of the lower Lip.
1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 448/2 Strong lower-sail winds.
1889 W. H. Pollock et al. Fencing (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) ii. 43 There are four lines in fencing; two upper and two lower.
1912 J. Joyce Let. 11 Sept. (1966) II. 319 My evening suit is in the lower drawer of the wardrobe.
1943 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 5 Aug. 4/2 (caption) In lower photo a pilot is seen afloat in a rescue dinghy.
2002 T. MacCubbin & G. Tasker Florida Gardener’s Guide (rev. ed.) 120 Potassium deficiency in Pygmy Dates shows up as yellow spots..on the lower, older fronds.
c. Designating part of a structure of the body of an animal, or a part of a plant, that is closer to the ground, or further from the head, than another part of the same structure; inferior; distal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > positions or directions in body > [adjective] > specific
rightOE
lefta1200
lowera1400
furtherc1400
lateral?a1425
sinistera1500
upper1528
anterior?1541
inferior1563
superior1566
oblique1578
high1588
ascendant1611
prone1646
peripherial1653
internal1657
supine1661
peripherical1690
gawk1703
ascending1713
adducent1722
submental1722
adductory1752
subdorsal1783
syntropic18..
atlantal1803
mesiad1803
mesial1803
proximal1803
sternal1803
distal1808
peripheral1808
peripheric1818
ventripetal1819
submedial1825
anteriormostc1826
subvertebral1827
afferent1828
sinistral1828
rostral1834
interganglionic1835
submedian1836
mesian1837
haemal1839
supravaginal1844
neural1846
symmetrical1851
suprameatal1853
paraxial1861
posterial1866
hypaxial1873
postaxial1873
preaxial1873
transmedial1876
transmedian1876
mediad1878
horizontal1881
mesal1881
prosomatic1882
dextrad1883
paramedian1890
prorsal1890
ventro-dorsal1895
midsagittal1898
ventro-axial1902
ventro-posterior1903
ipsilateral1907
parasagittal1907
ventromedial1908
homolateral1910
suprasellar1912
supratemporal1975
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 168 Þe firste gutt is maad fast to þe lower mouþ, & þis gutt is clepid duodenum.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια xiii. iii. 931 (table) It is called Arthrodia, as betwixt the lower iaw and the temple-bones, the Nowle and the first rack-bone.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie iii. 15 A Mole appearing on the lower part, or tip of the right Ear.
1714 J. Purcell Treat. Cholick 3 The outward Muscles and Skins of the Lower-Belly.
1797 R. Beilby & T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds I. 140 An obtuse angle in the lower mandible.
1836 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Plants (rev. ed.) 67 Outer paleæ of lower floret fringed.
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour x. 193 The sleeves of the hauberk sometimes were cut short about the middle of the lower arm.
1904 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 3 Dec. 1505/2 The electric proctoscope enables the lower bowel to be examined by the eye without difficulty.
1989 M. C. Smith Polar Star i. xvi. 194 Somebody busted his bones with an ax handle. I mean upper arms, lower arms, hands, fingers—the works.
2011 New Yorker 3 Oct. 44/1 You..push a device for stapling and cutting through an incision in the left lower abdomen.
3.
a. With capital initial. In geographical names: designating that part of a country, region, etc., situated on less high land or towards the sea; spec. designating the part of a river closer its mouth than to its source. Usually opposed to Upper. Cf. low adj. 3b.
ΚΠ
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 171 Alania is a party of þe lower Scythia [L. Scythiae inferioris].
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Josh. xviii. 13 It goith doun in to Astoroth Adar, in to the hil which is at the south of lowere Betheron [L. Bethoron inferioris].
?1520 R. Pynson tr. Frère Hayton Lytell Cronycle f. iiv/2 The Est parte of this lake is called Asya ye lesse or lower Asya.
1579 J. Frampton tr. M. Polo Most Noble & Famous Trauels sig. **v The first or lower India is renamed Caysar, and these do extend towards the East, from the Riuer India, vnto..Cambaya.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. vi. 10 Lower Syria. View more context for this quotation
a1640 P. Massinger Beleeue as you List (1976) ii. ii. 352 This is the bodye of Antiochus kinge of the lower Asia.
1709 London Gaz. No. 4584/4 A neat and large Map of Modern Belgium, or Lower Germany.
1791 King George III in Ann. Reg., St. Papers 124* His province of Quebec..should be divided into two separate provinces, to be called the province of Upper Canada, and the province of Lower Canada.
1840 T. B. Macaulay Ranke's Hist. in Ess. (1843) III. 220 Merchants from the Lower Danube.
1887 Amer. Naturalist 21 191 Mr. Walter E. Bryant has kindly presented to me the skin and skull of a wood-rat collected by him..on Cerros Island, off Lower California.
1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 201 White-bait shoals swarmed in the Lower Thames and the Medway.
1952 G. F. Hervey & J. Hems Freshwater Trop. Aquarium Fishes 193 The Spotted Danio. Native to Lower Burma.
1973 Times 16 Aug. 10 (advt.) Conservator of the Lower Swansea Valley. The vacancy is suitable for a recent graduate in Forestry or Botany.
2009 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 64/2 Duany argues for ‘opt-out zones’ for some of the hardest-hit areas, including the Lower Ninth [Ward].
b. U.S. (chiefly Alaska). Designating the American states other than Alaska, considered collectively; esp. the forty-eight contiguous states (so also excluding Hawaii): see lower forty-eight n. at Compounds 2b.
ΚΠ
1959 N.Y. Times 11 Jan. 58/1 Winds..disrupted airplane schedules to and from the area of the ‘lower forty-eight states’.
1962 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 27 July 8/4 He is now wanted..for allegedly failing to pay state income taxes and is..in the lower 49 states. The states have been unable to locate him.
1982 Field & Stream Nov. 72/3 Close to 30 percent of black bears bagged in the lower states annually came from Washington.
1991 Washington Times (Nexis) 12 Apr. f4 It has been estimated that only 5 percent to 10 percent of the total landscape in the lower 49 states is wetlands.
1999 V. Alia Un/Covering the North (2011) 7 There are about thirty Native American radio stations nationwide, of which twenty-two to twenty-four are in the ‘lower states’, with a handful in Alaska.
2011 R. L. Smith Powerless iv. 23 He witnessed the most intense and beautiful northern lights ever seen in the lower 48 states.
4.
a. Designating a person or thing of less high status than another (or others) of the same kind; of relatively low status, quality, or importance; held in relatively low esteem; lesser, minor, baser. Opposed to upper, higher.Frequently with reference to social class (see also the lower orders at order n. 7a, lower class n.).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > low or subordinate
wokec897
lessOE
lesserc1225
secondary1386
lowerc1390
subalternate?a1425
subsidiary1603
pedaneous1617
subordinate1620
undergraduate1655
subdominant1826
unlofty1869
lower case1917
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. viii. l. 142 (MED) Among lower lordes, þi lond schal be departet.
a1450 Pater Noster Richard Ermyte (Westm. Sch. 3) (1967) 31 Cardynals, archebischopis & bischopis, archedekenes, & lower prelatis ben as erles & barouns & iustices & schirifes & bailifes.
a1500 (c1380) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 479 He mut nedis ordeyne prestis, summe hyere & summe lowere.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons Proëme 16 All higher and lower Officers of Armies under the Generall.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 484 I am, saith he, incredibly taken with Musick and Dancing..it seemeth a Screwer up of lower Passions (more than Pins).
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost v. 410 Both contain Within them every lower facultie Of sense. View more context for this quotation
1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 131 In the lower Ages the Legend on Medals did not often allude to a particular Fact.
1784 E. Burke Speech Fox's E. India Bill, 1 Dec. 1783 57 The lower sort in the camp it seems could not be restrained.
1851 Guardian 16 July (Suppl.) 523/2 The lower subjects which still engage the bottom of the school.
1879 Pop. Sci. Monthly Jan. 382 The lower or animal impulses manifest themselves, freed from the control to which they are ordinarily subject.
1924 Le Mars (Iowa) Globe-Post 28 Feb. 4/3 Moses knew that the essential qualifications for a ruler are never in the lower types of man.
1942 Studies 31 393 The lower orders must be content with a lower form of education.
1996 T. N. Murari Steps from Paradise 327 I can't stop the lower echelons taking moolah when my minister..charges twenty-five thousand rupees if he's to sign an order for a contract.
b. Of a human being or other creature: occupying a place below the angels in the hierarchy of creation.Sometimes with reference to Christ incarnate (after scriptural use: cf. low adj. 7a).
ΚΠ
12 Concl. Lollards (Trin. Hall Cambr.) in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1907) 22 300 (MED) Þe heye worchipe þat clerkis clepin latria longith to þe godhead alone, and þe lowere worchipe þat is clepid dulia longith to man and to aungel and to lowere creatures.
c1456 R. Pecock Bk. Faith (Trin. Cambr.) (1909) 185 The netherer and louȝer aungels in thilk..ordre schulden take her leernyng..of the othere aungels overer to hem..Wherfore..the lower persoones, in thilk disposicioun and ordre, ouȝten receyve her leernyng [etc.].
1539 Bible (Great) Psalms viii. 13 Thou makest him lower then the aungels, to crowne him with glory & worshippe.
1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. iii. 111 Death befalleth only us lower Creatures.
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature v. 101 Allow (as you must) this power of discerning to be in God proportionable to His nature, as in lower beings it is proportionable to theirs.
1848 H. M. Grover Catech. for Sophs viii. 39 The natural man is lower than the angels, and subject to their dominion.
1921 J. F. Rutherford Harp of God vi. 130 Angels are spirit beings, and thus creatures that are lower than angels are human beings.
1999 Third Way Mar. 7/2 A Christian view must be influenced by the Highest of all, who chose to sacrifice himself for lower creatures (like me).
2007 A. A. Cohen in S. Katz et al. Wrestling with God 578 It is not reason that makes man little lower than angels, but freedom and speech.
c. Of animals and plants: having a simpler or more primitive organization. Also of humans, peoples, etc.: regarded as less civilized or advanced. Cf. lower fungus n., lower plant n. at Compounds 2b.
ΚΠ
1676 W. Bates Considerations Existence of God ii. 29 If we observe the lower rank of Animals, their kinds, shapes, properties, 'tis evident that all are the Copies of a designing Mind.
1695 J. Stevens tr. M. de Faria y Sousa Portugues Asia I. iv. vi. 408 They must not Eat with those of a lower race, nor any thing drest by them.
1775 A. Burnaby Trav. Middle Settlements N.-Amer. 83 A very extraordinary method of courtship, which is sometimes practised amongst the lower people of this province.
1871 E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture II. 402 Our astronomers may only find in the starcraft of the lower races an uninstructive combination of myth and common-place.
1914 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 22 422 Evolutionary variations and sublimations of the primitive impulse to procreate, in the lower forms of life, can rightfully be designated sexual.
1966 R. Morris & D. Morris Men & Apes vi. 165 This is the point at which we pass from the lower primates (the prosimians) to the higher primates (the anthropoids).
1996 Independent on Sunday 11 Aug. 5/2 The yachties look at us as some lower form of life and we can't stand them.
2004 Nature 25 Mar. p. ix A powerful method of silencing gene activity in lower organisms such as Drosophila.
d. Reduplicated, designating the lowest division or stratum of a class, esp. a social class, identified as lower.
ΚΠ
1865 S. Bracebridge Hemyng Butler Burke at Eton xii. 140 It was the custom for upper, middle, and lower fifth to construe in the presence of lower lower division.
1895 in Westm. Rev. (1902) Apr. 399 The dissatisfied lower middle and upper lower classes will coalesce with the lower lower classes and become Socialist.
1955 T. H. Pear Eng. Social Differences iii. 89 There are few serious impersonations of the lower-lower class.
1970 ‘D. Craig’ Young Men may Die ix. 68 We languish at an almost unbelievable and entirely unspeakable lower-lower-middle Costa Blanca resort.
1990 Spy Mar. 125/2 ‘Shop at So-and-so,’ I could have said in all candor, ‘if you belong to, or would like to keep in touch with, the lower lower middle class.’
5. Constituting or forming a layer, bed, stratum, etc., that lies further from the surface; (Geology, with capital initial) designating the deeper or older part of a named system or formation and the period of time during which it was laid down. Cf. upper adj. 6b.In quot. 1695 referring to rock and soil as contrasted with overlying vegetation (cf. stratum n.).Lower Greensand: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth v. 240 The Vegetative Stratum being carried off,..the Matter of the lower or mineral Strata being likewise by degrees borne down successively to the Roots and Bottoms of the Hills, and upon the neighbouring parts of the Valleys and Plains, it would..have cover'd and buried the upper and vegetative Stratum that was expanded over those Valleys and Plains.]
?1710 J. Hutchinson Obs. by J. H. 64 In Countries that have had the least of the Surface borne off the lower Strata are thicker than the upper.
1765 tr. in Foreign Ess. Agric. & Arts 74 They are to be rejected, and the lower beds of Marle preferred.
1835 R. I. Murchison in Philos. Mag. 7 48 I further propose that the [Silurian] system be subdivided into ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower Silurian rocks’.
1867 R. I. Murchison Siluria (new ed.) i. 13 The superjacent crystalline rocks..of Lower Silurian age.
1922 J. C. Hughes Geol. Story Isle of Wight vi. 37 Some prefer to call the Lower Greensand Vectian..and the Upper Greensand Selbornian.
1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) vii. 181 The only genus, Dimorphograptus, is confined to the Lower Valentian.
1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) v. 103/1 Abundant spicules of Lower Silurian age, usually isolated, but sometimes found in nest-like aggregations.
2011 D. West Brachiosaurus 9 (caption) A group of anchisaurs gather around a water hole in Lower Jurassic America.
6. Designating the junior division of a numbered form or class in a school, esp. a British public school. Now chiefly in lower sixth (form). Cf. upper adj. 9b(a), form n. 6b, also lower school n. at Compounds 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > division of pupils > form or class
form1560
first forma1602
remove1718
shell1736
sixth-form1807
lower sixth (form)1818
pettya1827
grade1835
the twenty1857
baby class1860
standard1862
nursery class1863
primer1885
reception class1902
sixth form1938
reception1975
1818 N. Carlisle Conc. Descr. Endowed Gram. Schools Eng. & Wales II. 149 The School Forms [at Harrow] are thus divided:—Sixth Form, {Monitors, the Ten Senior. Upper Sixth. Lower Sixth.} Fifth.—{Upper Fifth. Lower Fifth.} [etc.].
1842 Fraser's Mag. 26 168/2 There were two Sleaths—William and John—in my time, at Rugby, one having the lower fourth form, and the other the lower third.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. viii. 181 He and the other lower-fourth boys.
1901 Mod. Lang. Q. July 97/2 The usual age at which boys begin German is thirteen, i.e. on reaching the Lower Third Form.
1918 G. Williams Probl. of Restoration 78 He had done well in the lower fourth grade and in February was promoted to the upper fourth grade... In June, 1916 he was promoted to the lower fifth grade.
1969 Guardian 7 Nov. 13/1 The old exam-room diktat ‘Write on both sides of the page’ is all right for the lower fifth, less so for the learned clerks of the House of Commons.
1995 Scotsman (Nexis) 24 Feb. Twelve pupils in lower sixth (S5) at Merchiston Castle School this month visited the Cite des Sciences.
2002 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 21/5 As they typically drop a subject after one year, pupils are now taking more modules in the lower sixth than they are in the upper sixth.
B. n.1 † 3. The lower part or parts of something. Obsolete. rare.
1. A person who is lower than another in class or status; a subordinate; a lower-class person. In early use also (in singular): †a person's subordinates collectively (obsolete).In quot. 1921: an animal, as contrasted with a human (cf. sense A. 4c).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [noun]
lowerc1175
nethererc1443
inferior?1504
puny1579
under-being1587
puisne1592
subaltern1605
little sistera1634
undermatcha1661
wretch1688
sub-man1840
missing link1863
small-timer1910
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun]
lowerc1175
afterlingc1275
smalla1325
nethererc1443
undermana1661
lowlife1712
vulgar1763
vulgarian1809
rank outsider1869
low man on the totem1956
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10739 Wha se laȝheþþ himm. Bineþenn hise lahȝhre.
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Titus) (1963) 139 Dunes bitacnen þa þat leaden hehest lif; Hulles arn þe lahre.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 175 (MED) Þe zenne is gratter..ine ane prelat þanne ine ane loȝer.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 69 (MED) Þai wald þat odyr, hyar in deuocione, to þame come downe & þame confermyd in al þinge to þer lawars.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 104 (MED) Þei are vnfeiþful to þer souereyns, vneuyn to þer lowar.
a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 89 Wheþir he suffre of his prelate or of his piere or of his lower.
1802 Parl. Reg. III. 316 Another gentleman seemed to be of the opinion, that if the lowers of the people were not indulged in the joyous and jovial practice of bull-baiting, the constitution must eventually be overturned.
1921 Chambers's Jrnl. 30 July 545/1 Appreciation of beauty..is that which most distinguishes the humans from their lowers.
1967 Listener 21 Dec. 802/1 If a man spoke rather loudly..keeping his vowels open, then he was an Upper. If he attempted this and just failed, then he was a Middle. If..his voice carried the flavour of the area in which he was born, then he was a Lower.
2000 D. Adebayo My Once upon Time (2001) x. 216 A day to instruct the lowers in codes that were courtlier, a day to sublimate the tensions between richer and poorer.
2. The thing which is lower in position or degree out of two similar or related things (also occasionally in plural with reference to two similar or related sets of things). Also more widely: that which is lower.
ΚΠ
a1450 York Plays (1885) 281 Pil. Com byn, you bothe, and to þe benke brayde yow. Cay. Nay, gud sir, laugher is leffull for vs.
?1530 tr. J. Colet Serm. Conuocacion Paulis i. sig. Av From one benefice to an other: from the lesse to the more from the lower to the hygher.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. x. 76 (table) The lower of the Pointers.
1771 ‘N. Spencer’ Compl. Eng. Traveller 340/1 It consists of two stories, the lower of which is used as a chymical elaboratory.
1869 J. Martineau Ess. Philos. & Theol. 2nd Ser. 186 Can the lower create the higher?
1886 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall Sixty Years After 18 So the Higher wields the Lower, while the Lower is the Higher.
1967 Appraisal Terminol. & Handbk. (Amer. Inst. Real Estate Appraisers) (ed. 5) 127 Lower Low Water, the lower of the two low waters of any tidal day.
2011 A. Engel Taunton's Carpentry Compl. 182/1 Clapboards are installed so the uppers lap the lowers from 1 in. to 2 in.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [noun] > lower part
nethermorea1382
netherer1435
lowera1500
underpart1662
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) lxii. §9. 220 Into the lavgher of the earth [L. in inferiora terre].
4.
a. A dental plate for the lower jaw; a tooth from the lower jaw. Usually in plural.
ΚΠ
1858 Q. Jrnl. Dental Sci. 1 380 A sovereign to a shilling for uppers, and a sovereign to a sixpence for lowers.
1878 C. Hunter Mech. Dentistry i. 7 For edentulous uppers or lowers plaster is employed.
1904 F. P. Dunne in Westm. Gaz. 14 Oct. 1/3 He [sc. a child] has two uppers an' four lowers.
1939 A. Thirkell Before Lunch vi. 162 ‘And how are the new lowers?’.. Mrs. Pucken smiled broadly with a slightly seasick motion of her lower teeth.
1945 Hesperia 14 289 The mended face is adjusted with all upper teeth in perfect occlusion with the lowers.
2011 C. Olitsky & J. Olitsky Naked Tooth 36 Some patients will do their tops first, then do the lowers when their budget allows.
b. The bottom bunk in a sleeping berth in a railway carriage, ship, etc.
ΚΠ
1893 Car Service Rules (Pullman Company) Index p. viii Upper berths as comfortable as lowers.
1915 Rock Island Employes' Mag. Jan. 20/1 The lowers are all taken, but I can assign you a choice upper berth.
1946 Pop. Sci. Apr. 110/2 Each berth of the DC-6 has an outside window. Lowers are 76 inches long, uppers 78 inches.
1998 Cruise Trav. Oct. 37/2 553 ocean-view state rooms (150-sq.-ft., with twin lowers).
2000 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 23 Feb. t6 Presidential Suites [on the American Orient Express]..are basically double-sized rooms with two lowers and a private shower.
C. adv.
In or to a lower position; in a lower way or manner. Also with down (cf. low-down adv.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adverb]
netherOE
downlOE
downwardc1225
lowlyc1330
downwards?a1425
low-downc1425
abasea1450
lowera1475
baselya1500
humbly1746
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) l. 4913 (MED) To done your bysynesse, The Ton ende vpward to dresse..And..to determyne The tother ende lower doun.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) i. Prol. l. 471 Bot forthirmor, and lawar to discend, Forgeif me, Virgill, gif I the offend.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccix The kynges shyp..discended lower, before a towne in Holland.
1560 J. Heywood tr. Seneca Thyestes i. sig. Avi Eche branche his plenteous ritches all, letts lower downe: and apples from on hie With lyther leaues they flatter like to fall.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xiii. 10 Quha that wald the mater vnderstand, He man luke lawer.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. i. 117 She her selfe is hit lower . View more context for this quotation
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 143 Come no lauer.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper ii. 122 Let us continue on the story down lower still.
1648 T. Fairfax Remonstrance 17 Then he fell to play lower.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. liv. 241 The lower they are degraded..the more submissively they must depend upon his favour.
1782 W. Cowper Truth in Poems 170 Your portion is with them,—nay, never frown, But, if you please, some fathoms lower down.
1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe II. i. 60 We find not a few editions..:—Cicero de Officiis..1553; Virgil, 1570;..Horace and Juvenal, 1574. It is needless to proceed lower, when they become more frequent.
1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. 18 Speyk laicher, man; she'll maybe hear ye.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 64 Still farther north [the snow line] reaches yet lower.
1917 Atlantic Monthly July 779/2 As he sank lower and lower, voices grew abundant about him.
1957 C. F. Rawnsley & R. Wright Night Fighter iv. 56 The lower you fly the further down the trace the Christmas tree comes.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands v. 61 Take the tree creeper... It dives to some point lower down on a neighbouring trunk and climbs up that one.
2009 L. K. Hamilton Skin Trade li. 324 I spoke lower and lower, and watched him lean in to hear.
Phrases
P1. to have the lower hand: to be at a disadvantage; to be in an inferior position. Cf. the earlier and much more common upper hand n..
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > defeat or overthrow > be defeated or overthrown [verb (intransitive)] > be defeated or lose
to have (also get) the worsec1275
leesec1300
lose1548
to deserve or lose the bell1600
to have the lower hand1693
to have the second best1708
to come off second best1777
skunk1867
to be dumped on1967
1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely iii. 72 When they have once the lower-hand,..they no longer distinguish what they do.
1906 Life 12 Apr. 464/3 Now the people who have had the lower hand are going to try to see what they can do to make the world any better.
1995 R. Riziq in D. Rabinowitz Overlooking Nazareth (1997) 144 No matter how much you develop and progress, you still know that you have the lower hand.
P2. the lower row: see row n.1 5a. to be lower by the shoulders: see shoulder n. 2a. lower than a snake's belly: see snake n. 2f.
Compounds
C1. Uses of the adverb to form comparative adjectives corresponding to compounds of low adv., as lower-paid, lower-priced, lower-ranking, etc.
ΚΠ
1595 W. Jones tr. G. B. Nenna Nennio i. f. 20v This man [had] one eie greater then his fellowe, that other one eie lower set then another.
1655 R. Fanshawe tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad v. xxix. 101 I bid them shew him lower prized Things.
1785 W. Marshall Planting & Ornamental Gardening 317 The Portugal Laurel is a lower-growing tree than the former [sc. the Common Laurel].
1850 Economist 2 Mar. 229/1 The higher taxed country undersells the lower taxed country.
1893 Econ. Jrnl. 3 93 The better-paid labour of the Northern States is cheaper than the lower-priced labour of the South.
1937 S. F. Armstrong Brit. Grasses (ed. 3) xiii. 279 Milch cows were allowed first access to the fresh growth, followed by lower-yielding cows.
1947 D. N. Davies in P. I. Smith Pract. Plastics viii. 98 (caption) The lower-boiling or more volatile liquids..are boiled off and condensed first.
1972 Guardian 24 Nov. 10/1 Lower-paid hospital workers are resorting to a series of unofficial strikes.
1975 Times 11 Jan. 7/6 Show a minimum by bidding Two Hearts or a near minimum by bidding Two Diamonds (a lower ranking suit).
1994 Wall St. Jrnl. 28 Nov. a1/5 We have an increasing pool of lower-skilled labor.
C2. Compounds of the adjective.
a. Forming comparative adjectives corresponding to compounds of low adj., as lower-cost, lower-risk, lower-roofed, etc.
ΚΠ
1627 H. Sydenham Athenian Babler 28 To apprehensions lower-roofed wayes more troden to aduise, and comfort.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία Index sig.Ppv Lower-Region'd Souls.
1759 J. Berkenhout tr. C. G. Tessin Lett. to Young Prince I. 26 I will not mention virtue and a good conscience: we lower-ranked mortals should be ill-off, if these were the special rights of majesty.
1788 Calcutta Chron. 31 Jan. To be sold..A Brick-built Lower-roomed House.
1851 C. Kingsley Yeast xiii. 242 Smaller, clumsier, lower-brained, and weaker-jawed than their elders.
1898 Cosmopolitan June 188/1 The market is glutted with goods of our kind, and nothing is going to be gained by cut-downs and forcing lower-cost goods into it.
1922 Pop. Mech. Sept. 412/1 It seemed to roll on and on,..sometimes increasing in its growl, then diminishing as it entered one of the lower-roofed cavities.
1976 I. M. Lewis Social Anthropol. in Perspective ix. 297 The hotter, lower-lying southern regions of the country.
1995 M. Chandler Life & Work John Mason Neale ii. 42 Lower-sided pews..enabled worshippers to look into their neighbours' pews.
1999 What Investm. Mar. 11 Ethically minded companies are lower-risk as they can be less susceptible to strikes.
b.
lower boy n. a boy in one of the lower year groups of a school, esp. a British public school; cf. lower school n.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > schoolboy > young or junior
petitc1451
petty1571
breeching-scholar1611
lower boy1778
under-boy1843
1778 Gen. Advertiser 18 June Had the procession from the College been delayed a little, an opportunity would have been offered to march every lower boy ad montem.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby I. i. viii. 92 The lower boy or fag,..asked his master whether he had further need of him.
1923 Register (Adelaide) 13 Dec. 11 The lower boys..gave a skilful rendering of Offenbach's ‘Nights of stars’.
2012 Wells Jrnl. (Nexis) 8 Mar. 72 Elmhurst also head the pack in the lower boys' race.
lower chamber n. (also with capital initials) = lower house n. 1; cf. upper chamber n. at upper adj. Additions.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > [noun] > a chamber or house of > lower
lower chamber1670
1670 London Gaz. No. 522/1 Members of the Lower Chamber of the Diet.
1807 Morning Post 12 Oct. The next legislative body will be composed of two Chambers, viz, an Upper Chamber..; and a Lower Chamber, composed of Deputies, from all the departments.
1885 C. Lowe Life Bismarck I. 293 The Lower Chamber would not yield an inch to the Crown and the Upper House.
1940 Ann. Reg. 1939 253 A vote of no-confidence was carried in the Lower Chamber.
1994 Harper's Mag. Aug. 14/1 The list..is kept by the secretariat of the Lok Sabha, the lower chamber of India's parliament.
lower court n. Law a court whose decisions may be overruled by another court of appeal; now frequently attributive; cf. higher court n. at higher adj., adv., and n.1 Compounds 1b.Earliest in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > court of first instance
lower court1577
court of first instance1864
trial court1890
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > inferior court
base courtc1523
lower court1577
court paravaila1653
1577 J. Field tr. J. de L'Espine Excellent Treat. Christian Righteousnes 114 Mercye..is aboue righteousnes: which is as an inferiour and lower courte, from which we may appeale to that highe..courte of God his mercie.
1632 tr. Swedish Discipline ii. 65 All questions in like manner happening betwixt Officers and their souldiers, if they suspect our lower Court to be partiall any way, then may they appeale vnto our higher Court, who shall decide the matter.
1777 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 463/2 His faculty of speaking is so full of variety, that many doubt whether he is fitter to manage causes in the lower courts, or to speak before a full Parliament.
1860 A. J. Schem Amer. Eccl. Year-bk. I. ii. xv. 192 This time the court of appeal did not redress the sentence of the lower court, but confirmed it.
1983 J. Feinberg in J. Howie Ethical Princ. Social Policy v. 111 A lower court decision returning the boy to the custody of his natural father was eventually overturned by a state Supreme Court decision favoring the grandparents.
2012 Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) (Nexis) 14 Nov. 3 The lower court ruling found three former aides..intentionally falsified figures..to conceal 400 million yen.
lower critic n. a person who engages in lower criticism.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > [noun] > textual critic
literator1725
lower critic1859
1859 Literary Churchman 15 Oct. 375/1 Who, for example, (not to condescend to lower critics,) who has not read with delight Bishop Pearson's note on the following passage in his Exposition of the Creed.
1897 Contemp. Rev. Sept. 342 Resch is not merely a ‘lower critic’ busied with readings of the existing Gospels.
2003 Numen 50 480 To make things worse, the leading lower critic in Cambridge was an anti-feminist.
lower criticism n. = criticism n. (chiefly in the context of biblical scholarship).Contrasted with higher criticism n. at higher adj., adv., and n.1 Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > [noun]
criticism1625
lower criticism1822
textualism1888
explication de texte1935
textology1975
1822 M. Stuart tr. C. D. Beck in Ernesti's Elements Interpr. iv. 114 The maxims, thus far, are comprized within the province of lower criticism. But higher criticism may be, and ought to be employed, in order to assist in forming a judgment of the genuineness of many passages.
1874 Athenæum 7 Nov. 607/1 We cannot but regret that Mr. Aldis Wright confines his work so entirely to what must be called the lower criticism of Shakespeare.
2011 T. Stark Human Faces of God 44 The distinction is not, in reality, between ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ criticism, but between historical description and dogmatic apologetics.
lower depths n. and adj. (a) n. (with the) that part of society that is perceived as morally depraved, poor, or downtrodden; cf. the lower orders at order n. 7a; (b) adj. of or relating to this part of society.Apparently popularized by the English title of Maxim Gorky's play The Lower Depths (published in Russian in 1902 and translated into English in 1912).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun] > collectively
vulgarsa1513
worsers1581
unconscionable1607
lower class1637
the lower orders1679
worses1857
lesser breeds1897
lower depths1902
1902 Washington Post 10 May 6/1 The child of generations of upright men and women seldom falls into the lower depths.
1927 Life 7 July 24/2 Vanity. If this is a true picture of high society, give me the lower depths.
1982 Texas Monthly Nov. 220/2 Ashby seems to think that mustard stains on a maroon tie are a sign of lower-depths authenticity.
2005 Nation 20 June 35/2 A wrenching, lower-depths story in which the most devastating turning points happen almost casually, as if in passing.
2010 R. Hattersley in New Statesman (Nexis) 18 Oct. 48 He [sc. Mayhew] recounts the horrors of life in the lower depths with a chilling objectivity.
Lower Empire n. [after French bas-empire (early 17th cent. or earlier)] now rare the later Roman Empire (cf. low adj. 19).Frequently also with depreciative connotations of lesser status (cf. sense A. 4a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > historical period > [noun] > other historical periods
antiquityc1375
Christian antiquity1577
the days of ignorance1652
the time of ignorance1652
dark ages1656
Lower Empire1668
the age of reason1792
Scythism1793
grand siècle1811
the Age of Enlightenment1825
the Hundred Days1827
Tom and Jerry days1840
regency1841
industrial age1843
Régence1845
viking age1847
ignorance1867
renascence1868
Renaissance1872
gilded age1874
jazz era1919
jazz age1920
post-war1934
steam age1941
postcolonialism1955
information age1960
1668 J. Evelyn tr. R. Fréart Idea Perfection Painting 2 The ignorance and barbarity of the Lower Empire.
1797 Encycl. Brit. VI. 573/2 The lower empire comprehends near 1200 years, reckoning [from 260] down to the destruction of Constantinople in 1453.
1846 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Dinders, small coins of the lower empire found at Wroxeter.
1904 M. R. James Ghost-stories Antiquary (1905) 33 He had written a remarkable series of articles in the Critical Museum on the superstitions of the Romans of the Lower Empire.
lower forty-eight n. (also lower 48) U.S. (chiefly Alaska) (with the) the forty-eight contiguous American states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii; cf. sense A. 3b.
ΚΠ
1959 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 26 Jan. b8/4 The touring Alaska Junior Bowling Champions..have played two matches in the Seattle-Tacoma areas since their arrival in the ‘Lower 48’ Friday.
1980 N.Y. Times (Electronic ed.) 3 June a19 Alaskans want the Federal Government out of their lives. They want the freedom they didn't find in the Lower 48.
2010 Buffalo News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 7 Nov. f10 There are twice as many time zones in Siberia—eight—as in the U.S. lower forty-eight.
lower fungus n. [after German niederer Pilz (1815 or earlier, usually in plural)] any of a large group of fungi and fungus-like organisms, including many parasitic and aquatic forms, which are simple in structure and typically reproduce asexually; cf. phycomycete n.
ΚΠ
1821 tr. A. P. de Candolle & K. Sprengel Elements Philos. Plants 61 In the lower fungi [Ger.niedern Pilzen], the cover of the germ and seed, which for the most part is spherical, is called the peridium.
1979 Amer. Biol. Teacher 41 21 Among the lower fungi I have used successfully in my botany and mycology classes are Oomycetes and Zygomycetes.
2001 D. G. Spoerke in Y. H. Hui et al. Foodborne Dis. Handbk. III. xx. 787 Beauveria bassiana: This lower fungus is used in Chinese folk medicine.
lower-income adj. having a relatively low income; relating to such an income.
ΚΠ
1927 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 33 108 These children..rise more rapidly than those from the lower-income families.
1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 35/2 Kindly human thoughts such as keep ordinary men in the lower-income brackets.
2011 N.Y. Times 12 Oct. (Late ed.) a23/1 Stores didn't want to turn away lower-income customers.
lower mast n. the section of a ship's mast immediately above the deck; the mast immediately below the topmast.
ΚΠ
1656 G. Kendall Clerk of Surveigh Surveighed 11 The Puttocks he hath inserted in the Fore-top Mast and Main top-mast riggings, are altogether superfluous, and not at all used;..The Puttocks in the lower Masts being sufficient.
1745 Gentleman's Mag. July 352 The Lion's rigging being cut to pieces,..all her lower masts and topmasts shot thro' in many places.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 21 To send up a Topmast... Lash a top-block to the head of the lower-mast; reeve a mast-rope through it [etc.].
1898 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ iii. 23 An immense fourfold tackle from the main lowermast-head.
2002 D. Lundy Way of Ship (2003) iv. 127 They had added steel lower masts and yards.
lower-middlebrow adj. and n. freq. derogatory (a) adj. of, belonging to, or characteristic of the lower end of middlebrow thought or culture; (b) n. a lower-middlebrow person.
ΚΠ
1936 Amer. Speech 11 306/1 If all the solecisms of American lower-middlebrow dialect are to be accepted as American usage a larger book than the present one will be needed to list them.
1949 Kingsport (Tennessee) News 14 Apr. 15/8 Our society is divided up into four classes..the high-brows, the low-brows, and the upper and lower middle-brows.
1995 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Mar. 10/3 The contemporary image of Mormons may be one of conservative rectitude, hopelessly middle-class and lower-middle-brow.
2008 Amer. Music 26 318 The lower middlebrow is aligned with popular music that is nonetheless portrayed as superior to that of the lowbrow's jukebox.
lower plant n. [after German niedere Pflanze (1802 or earlier, usually in plural)] any of a large group of plants considered to have a simple structure; esp. a non-flowering plant (in the widest sense also including algae and fungi) which reproduces by means of spores, lacking distinct stems, leaves, and (usually) vascular tissues; a cryptogam; contrasted with higher plant.
ΚΠ
1821 tr. A. P. de Candolle & K. Sprengel Elements Philos. Plants 108 The Cryptogamous Plants... Every person perceives the necessity of a natural arrangement of these lower plants [Ger. niedern Pflanzen].
1917 M. A. Bigelow & A. N. Bigelow Applied. Biol. ix. 232 There are a number of types of lower-plants without seeds... Ferns, mosses, and mushrooms are examples.
2008 P. Scott Physiol. & Behaviour Plants i. 1/1 From freshwater-dwelling green algae the simple lower plants, such as mosses and ferns evolved.
lower school n. the lower forms or year groups of a school; cf. school n.1 5e.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > division of pupils
school1586
faction1700
lower school1725
middle school1829
side1866
1725 D. Defoe Tour Great Brit. II. i. 91 In the lower School, the Children are received very young, and are initiated into all School-Learning.
1829 R. Gilbert Liber Scholast. 123 Manchester School..High Master, Jeremiah Smith, D.D...Master of Middle School, Rev. E. Elsdale, M.A...Master of Lower School, Rev. John Dallas.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. v. 100 There's nothing for candour like a lower-school boy.
1916 P. E. Sargent Handbk. Amer. Private Schools 514 The lower school is for young boys of nine to twelve.
2000 M. Gayle Turning Thirty lxx. 260 Ian used to tell her he was working with me on a project for the lower school as an excuse for us to meet.
lower second n. Education (chiefly British) the lower division of a second-class honours degree; = two-two n. (b) at two adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > marks > specific marks
accessit1753
honour1774
credit1802
second class1810
firsta1830
first class1830
third class1844
Hons.1850
max1851
second1852
special mention1886
distinction?1890
A1892
E1892
pass mark1894
two-two1895
alpha1898
alpha plus1898
gamma1898
beta1902
delta1911
alpha minus1914
fourth1914
straight A1926
two-one1937
lower second1960
honourable mention2011
1960 A. Olubummo & J. Ferguson Emergent Univ. iii. 51 The..'lower second' is the place of the average..student who will always do a competent job.
1975 Observer 8 June 4/7 In an orthodox classification, he [sc. the student] would probably get a lower second.
1997 J. E. Canaan & D. Epstein Question of Discipline 191 Lower second (which is average and which the largest number of students obtain).
2006 Independent (Nexis) 11 May 8 The fact that he got a lower second did not do his career much harm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
lowerv.
/ˈləʊə/, U.S. /ˈloʊər/ I. Senses relating to height or position.
1. † c. transitive. To go down (a hill). Obsolete. rare.
a. intransitive. To descend, sink down; to move to a lower position. Also: †to cower, crouch (obsolete). Also figurative and with down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > move downwards [verb (intransitive)]
styc825
astyc975
alightOE
to fall adownOE
hieldc1275
downcomea1300
sink?a1300
avalec1374
to go downa1375
to come downc1380
dipc1390
descenda1393
clinea1400
declinea1400
downc1400
inclinec1400
vailc1400
fallc1440
devall1477
condescendc1485
to get down1567
lower1575
dismount1579
to fall down1632
down?1701
demount1837
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of crouching or squatting > crouch or squat [verb (intransitive)]
ruck?c1225
cowerc1300
crouchc1394
couch?a1400
hurklea1400
quatc1425
squat1573
squat1609
thigh1611
swat1615
hunker1720
lower1720
squattle1786
croodle1788
scrooch1844
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > support (an amount of) sail [verb (intransitive)] > reduce sail > lower sail > admit of being lowered
lower1727
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 95 It is a pleasure to take a Larke lowring, or clyming.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) i. ii. 118 The present pleasure, By reuolution lowring, does become The opposite of it selfe. View more context for this quotation
1680 E. Hickeringill Curse ye Meroz 16 For the Crown to Vaile and Lowre to the Stool of Repentance, Oh abominable and Vile!
1720 T. Gordon Humourist I. 92 The brute Part of the Creation are affected by the Turns of Weather; the Deer, we say, runs to Covert, the Bird lowers.
1727 P. Longueville Hermit 154 The Main-yard could not lower.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 323 When snow is falling..the shepherds drive their flocks..round the top of a hill in a circle, to keep them from lowring and being smothered.
1806 H. Siddons Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 146 I immediately lowered down and hid myself among some shrubs.
1851 E. Montgomery Reminisc. Wilmington i. 10 The sails were lowering.
1906 New Cent. Path 16 Sept. 7/1 Note that cloud... See how it twists and turns; note how it lowers and rebounds.
1928 Van Nuys (Calif.) News 28 Sept. 4/5 Again the plane lowered and I could read the name Van Nuys on a sign.
1992 Disability Now May 12 (advt.) The siderests automatically fold in as the seat lowers.
2012 C. Conway When you open your Eyes xxxvii. 132 I draw him close, and he lowers and sinks against me.
b. intransitive. To slope downwards. Also with down. Chiefly with to, towards.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > slope > [verb (intransitive)] > slope downwards
fall1573
to fall away1607
sink1630
lower1734
delve1848
to ease off1880
1734 tr. C. Le Brun Method to learn to design Passions 29 Contempt is expressed by the Eye brows knit and lowering towards the Nose, and at the other end very much elevated.
1813 R. Southey Life Nelson II. 104 To the north of Helsinburg the shores are steep and rocky; they lower to the south.
1875 C. Lyell & L. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 12) I. ii. xxv. 638 The top of the escarpment where it lowers towards Ottajano.
1910 Minnesota Rep. 110 308 The tracks in the yard ran north and south upon a grade lowering towards the south.
1996 R. Koshal Population Growth & Family Welfare Programme in India i. 6 The plateau gradually lowers down towards the east.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > go down (a hill, etc.)
avalea1513
descend1667
lower1780
1780 A. Young Tour Ireland (Dublin ed.) I. 133 Lowering the hill the scenery is yet more agreeable.
2.
a. transitive. To move (something) downwards or into a lower position; to let down gradually; (esp. in early use) to haul down (a sail, a flag, etc.). Also with away, down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (transitive)] > lower or let down
abeyOE
fellOE
to let down1154
lowc1330
vailc1330
revalec1475
to let fallc1500
bate1530
stoop1530
down1595
fall1595
embase1605
dismount1609
lower1626
sink1632
prostratea1718
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > strike or take in (sails) > lower (sail)
amain1541
vail1553
understrike?1615
settlea1625
douse1626
lower1626
society > travel > travel by water > launching a vessel > launch or set afloat [verb (transitive)] > put out a (boat or ship) > lower a (boat)
to hoise out (forth)1585
to hoist out1719
lower1821
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 28 Lower your maine sayles.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 198 The Water..sustains these Particles..till..its Motion begins to remit..when by degrees it lowers them.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 25 Adown the mast, the yard they low'r away.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc vii. 548 The foe advance to meet us..look! they lower The bridge!
1821 W. Scott Pirate III. ix. 192 The sloop immediately lowered a boat.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §9. 562 A summons from Blake to lower the Dutch flag was met by the Dutch admiral..with a broadside.
1894 S. J. Weyman My Lady Rotha xiv. 151 My lady..waved adieu to him, and he lowered his great plumed hat to his stirrup.
1895 Manch. Guardian 14 Oct. 5/6 The workmen have to be lowered by ropes down the face of the cliff.
1918 Pomona Coll. Q. Mag. Oct. 6 We got into the boat and lowered it away in good shape.
1949 J. G. Frayne & H. Wolfe Elem. Sound Recording iii. 54 The various controls permit the operator to ‘pan’ the microphone, elevate or lower it.
1988 N. Baker Mezzanine iv. 28 He lowered his glasses and bent to examine the pattern more closely.
1996 E. Danticat Krik? Krak! 71 He pressed the boy's body against his chest before lowering him to the ground.
b. intransitive. Nautical. To let something down, esp. gradually; esp. to take down a sail or sails. Frequently with away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > downward motion > causing to come or go down > cause to come or go down [verb (intransitive)] > lower
lowc1400
lower1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Lower handsomely! and lower cheerly! are opposed to each other, the former being the order to lower gradually, and the latter to lower expeditiously.
1770 ‘T. Meanwell’ Voy. through Hell 35 Lower away, lower away, let go there; there she goes into her birth as clean as a robin.
1842 R. H. Barham Smuggler's Leap in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 159 Now lower away! come, lower away! We must be far ere the dawn of the day.
1904 J. London Sea-wolf xxxvii. 349 Again Maud rectified the twist with the watch-tackle, and again she lowered away from the windlass.
1967 Internat. Med. Guide for Ships (World Health Organization) iii. 106 When the stretcher is in position, No. 1 gives the order to lower and all lower together.
1997 J. White in P. H. Spectre 100 Boat Designs Reviewed xxxvii. 122/1 Both boats show lazyjacks on the main to keep the sail up off the deck when lowering and furling.
c. intransitive. Nautical. Of a small boat, as a whaleboat or lifeboat, or its passengers: to be let down to the water from a ship. Frequently with away.
ΚΠ
1810 Lady's Misc. 10 Nov. 44/2 While the boats were lowering away to go to his relief, the stern boat..was capsised.
1873 Japan Gaz. 19 Nov. 5/2 I got the boats ready to lower away, and then was ordered by the captain to lower.
1898 F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ iii. 21 We lowered and left the ship.
1918 L. C. Cornford Merchant Seaman in War viii. 62 The Irishman went directly to his station at the port lifeboat..and unloosed one of the falls ready to lower away.
1992 D. Poyer Circle xxvi. 508 The motor died immediately after we lowered and we were carried away by the wind.
3.
a. transitive. To allow (one's head, eyelids, etc.) to droop; to direct (one's eyes or gaze) downwards.Frequently as a sign of embarrassment, modesty, humility, or evasion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [verb (transitive)]
lower?a1650
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (transitive)] > turn (eyes) downwards
to turn downa1425
deject1612
lower1721
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [verb (transitive)] > to let eyelid droop
lower1721
drop1842
?a1650 W. Bosworth Chast & Lost Lovers (1651) 95 So said, she hangs her lip, and lours her head, (Lovers are oft asham'd of what they sed).
1721 tr. M.-C. D'Aulnoy Coll. Novels & Tales of Fairies II. 28 Fortunio thro Modesty and Confusion lower'd his Eyes.
1777 T. Wilson Solomon in all his Glory 10 At every step they cried out ‘Raise your foot—lower your head—take care—salute.’
1826 J. F. Cooper Last of Mohicans I. viii. 116 ‘Go, generous young man,’ Cora continued, lowering her eyes under the gaze of the Mohican, with an intuitive consciousness of her power.
1843 A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fire-side 134 The sudden jerk..brought the shaft horse..still nearer to that side of the road, while it made both him and the tracer lower their heads.
1915 J. Conrad Victory ii. v. 114 Schomberg lowered his eyes, for the sight of these two men intimidated him.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day iii. 47 He would at the slightest provocation lower his eyelids rebukingly.
1988 G. Patterson Burning your Own (1993) iii. 33 His father lowered his head. ‘You stupid, stupid fool,’ he groaned.
2002 New Yorker 30 Sept. 60/2 He criticized members of a mosque..for not lowering their gaze when meeting women.
b. transitive. To cease pointing or aiming (a weapon) in a threatening manner, by bringing it to a lowered position.
ΚΠ
1683 J. Bulteel tr. F. E. de Mézeray Gen. Chronol. Hist. France iii. 805 When they saw they were about to break their Batalions with great Guns, they lowred their Pikes and surrendred their Colours.
1748 tr. Life Augustus Cæsar II. i. 157 This intrepidity caused so much..admiration in the soldiers, that they lowered their spears, and proclaimed him emperor.
1796 M. Robinson Sicilian Lover i. iv. 281 (stage direct.) Alferenzi raises his sword, then lowers it.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth xi, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 289 Out of respect to the sanctified ground, they lowered their weapons.
1867 Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours 3 426/1 Suddenly Guy lowered his gun, and the valet saw him standing defenseless before his fate.
1920 Z. Grey Man of Forest viii. 102 Roy had his rifle leveled. ‘Oh, don't!’ she cried... He lowered the rifle.
1979 Newsweek (Nexis) 22 Oct. 72 Thirty minutes later they lowered their guns... We were spared.
2008 S. Baxter Weaver xvi. 308 All right, lads. Lower your weapons. Let's get this mess sorted out without anybody else dying.
4.
a. transitive. To make lower in height, reduce the height of; to extend the length of (something) in a downward direction.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > lack of height > make low(er) [verb (transitive)]
depress1526
shorten1530
lower1858
1700 P. Danet Compl. Dict. Greek & Rom. Antiq. at Favissae Q. Catulus..having a mind to lower the ground that was about the place, could not perform it.
1785 Edinb. Mag. June 504/1 They begin, then, by surrounding the whole pond with a small dike, and lower the water four feet and a half.
1858 D. Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos.: Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, & Heat (new ed.) 33 The water escapes..until the level of C has been lowered to that of B.
1911 Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 452. 41 The streams have cut deep, narrow valleys in the shale, but have not had time to lower the hill crests between or to make the slopes gradual.
1957 G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 6 At a time when the sea had been lowered by glaciation.
1988 T. J. Garvey Public Sculptor iii. 109 Women of the camp daringly raised hemlines and lowered necklines for summer comfort.
2008 C. McKeown Office Ergonomics xii. 191 A height-adjustable desk would allow them to lower the chair so that their feet are always firmly in contact with the floor.
b. transitive. Printmaking. In wood engraving: to cut or scrape away (part of a block) so as to leave an area which transfers little or no ink to the paper. Also with out.
ΚΠ
1829 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. This improvement was completely obtained by slightly lowering the surface of the block where the distance or lighter parts of the engraving were to be shewn to perfection.
1839 W. A. Chatto Treat. Wood Engraving viii. 665 The part which appears white in A [should be] lowered out.
1904 New Internat. Encycl. XVII. 846/2 Engraving in relief, that is to say, with the lines, the figures, or the pattern left in projection, while the background is cut away or ‘lowered’.
1936 A. Kistler Understanding Prints v. 40 An artist who prefers not to work in the stern black against white will lower the block slightly in certain parts to create a greyish cast to a black area.
1996 A. Griffiths Prints & Printmaking (ed. 2) 23 Sections of the block can be lowered with scrapers in order to make them print more lightly.
5. transitive. slang. To consume (a drink, esp. an alcoholic drink). Cf. down v.1 6b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor
pulla1450
to crush a cup of wine1592
to take one's rousea1593
crack1600
whiff1609
bezzle1617
bub1654
tift1722
bibulate1767
lush1838
do1853
lower1895
nip1897
sink1899
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (transitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > drink up or drain
quax1509
toom?a1513
quaff1534
to play off1598
upsy-friese1617
bumbaste1640
dust1673
fuddlec1680
whemmel1721
toota1774
buzz1785
kill1833
floor1837
lower1920
slam1982
1895 Punch 27 July 39/1 If you'd just seen me lower the beer!
1899 C. Rook Hooligan Nights iv. 63 Out comes a bloke wiv a razzo like 'arf a boiled beetroot... Looked as if you wouldn't like to pay for the 'arf of what 'e could lower.
1920 ‘Sapper’ Bull-dog Drummond ii. 64 During the time that he took to drink a mild nightcap, Mr. Benton succeeded in lowering three extremely strong glasses of spirit.
1962 ‘L. Grex’ Terror wears Smile ix. 143 He could lower a whole bottle of three-star brandy without batting an eye.
1989 B. Roche Handful of Stars i. i, in K. Harwood First Run 199 Stapler lowers the rest of the lemonade and tosses the bottle into the basket.
2002 Sun (Nexis) 19 Nov. He then lowered a pint of the brew onstage before delivering a rap about the famous stout.
II. Senses relating to degree, quality, or amount.
6.
a. transitive. To bring down in rank, station, or estimation; to degrade, dishonour; to humble. Also with to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > degrade [verb (transitive)]
vile1297
supplanta1382
to bring lowa1387
revilea1393
gradea1400
villain1412
abject?a1439
to-gradea1440
vilifyc1450
villainy1483
disparage1496
degradea1500
deject?1521
disgraduate1528
disgress1528
regrade1534
base1538
diminute1575
lessen1579
to turn down1581
to pitch (a person) over the bar?1593
disesteem1594
degender1596
unnoble1598
disrank1599
reduce1599
couch1602
disthrone1603
displume1606
unplume1621
disnoble1622
disworth?1623
villainize1623
unglory1626
ungraduate1633
disennoble1645
vilicate1646
degraduate1649
bemean1651
deplume1651
lower1653
cheapen1654
dethrone1659
diminish1667
scoundrel1701
sink1706
demean1715
abjectate1731
unglorifya1740
unmagnify1747
undignify1768
to take the shine out of (less frequently from, U.S. off)1819
dishero1838
misdemean1843
downgrade1892
demote1919
objectify1973
1653 J. Rogers Ohel or Beth-Shemesh ii. vi. 382 True experiences more declared the more humble us, and lessen us & lower us in our own eyes.
1682 R. Westcot in tr. J. Selden Reverse Eng. Janus Transl. to Rdr. sig. A4v He hath vilely and like himself..aspersed the Royal Family with Weakness and Collusion, to have lower'd the British Renown.
1771 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. liv. 229 His letter has lowered him in my opinion.
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. II. 65 The history of Persius had been greatly misapplied and lowered, by being inserted among the fables of Greece.
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham I. iv. 29 In marriage a man lowers a woman to his own rank.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 19 Turn, Fortune, turn thy wheel and lower the proud.
1882 J. L. Watson Life A. Thomson iii. 44 Lowering his character as a minister of the Gospel.
1902 Northwestern Reporter 88 745/2 Every false and malicious publication which naturally tends to injure a person's character, or lower him in the confidence and respect of his neighbors, is libelous and actionable.
1975 Family Planning Perspectives 7 279/1 Sex is dirty and shameful, because it lowers man to the rank of woman.
1991 Classical Q. 41 534 If the girl had been a consenting partner, that would have lowered her in the eyes of the fourth-century Athenian.
b. transitive (reflexive). To descend to a lower rank, station, or standard of behaviour; to behave in a manner unworthy of one's status or position; to degrade oneself. Also with to.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > degrade oneself or stoop [verb (reflexive)]
unworshipc1380
vilifyc1450
familiarizea1586
unclass1657
demean1659
lower1666
1666 G. Alsop Char. Province Maryland 16 There is none within the Province that would lower themselves so much below the dignity of men to beg.
1756 World 13 May 1059 I cannot consent to lower myself so far as to make them my companions.
1765 Gentleman's & London Mag. Nov. 694/2 But I shall not lower myself so as to answer such accusers.
1816 J. Austen Emma III. xiii. 238 It was a hard case to be obliged still to lower herself in his opinion. View more context for this quotation
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. vi. 130 I never wish you to lower yourself.
1907 G. B. Shaw John Bull's Other Island iv. 103 God knows I dont grudge you me money! But to lower meself to the level of common people—.
1937 R. K. Narayan Bachelor of Arts ix. 139 We have a status and a prestige to keep. We can't lower ourselves unduly.
1990 C. Brayfield Prince xii. 252 She felt she would be lowering herself if she quizzed him about Lady Katriona, or Lady Annabel.
c. intransitive. To descend to a lower rank, station, or standard of behaviour; to descend to a person's level. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > be humble [verb (intransitive)] > become humble
to come downa1382
meeka1400
meekena1500
let fall one's crest1531
to come (also get) off one's perch1568
to come down a peg1589
lower1837
to come off the roof1883
to climb down1887
deflate1912
to come, etc., off one's high horse1920
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > degrading or debasement > become degraded or debased [verb (intransitive)]
to come down a peg1589
derogatea1616
lower1837
1837 R. P. Ward Illustr. Human Life I. 239 I expected that rather than fall, he would rise and rise, till he came to ten times as much. But..insteed of that, he lowers and lowers.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 96 Thou shalt lower to his level day by day.
1872 G. Hamilton Woman's Worth & Worthlessness ix. 171 Man pays deference to woman instinctively, involuntarily... If she descends, he will lower to her level; if she rises, he will rise to her height.
1958 Jewish Social Stud. 20 141 It means rather lowering to the level of the congregation than raising them to his level.
7.
a. transitive. To decrease the amount of (a tax, a price, a wage, rent, etc.). Also: to reduce the price of (a commodity, product, etc.), or the value of (a currency). Cf. raise v.1 34a(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)]
littleeOE
anitherOE
wanzelOE
lessc1225
slakea1300
littenc1300
aslakec1314
adminisha1325
allayc1330
settle1338
low1340
minisha1382
reprovea1382
abatea1398
rebatea1398
subtlea1398
alaskia1400
forlyten?a1400
imminish14..
lessenc1410
diminish1417
repress?a1425
assuagec1430
scarcec1440
small1440
underslakec1440
alessa1450
debate?c1450
batec1460
decreasec1470
appetisse1474
alow1494
mince1499
perswage?1504
remita1513
inless?1521
attenuate1530
weaken1530
defray1532
mitigate1532
minorate1534
narrow?1548
diminuec1550
extenuate1555
amain1578
exolve1578
base1581
dejecta1586
amoinder1588
faint1598
qualify1604
contract1605
to pull down1607
shrivel1609
to take down1610
disaugment1611
impoverish1611
shrink1628
decoct1629
persway1631
unflame1635
straiten1645
depress1647
reduce1649
detract1654
minuate1657
alloy1661
lower?1662
sinka1684
retreat1690
nip1785
to drive down1840
minify1866
to knock down1867
to damp down1869
scale1887
mute1891
clip1938
to roll back1942
to cut back1943
downscale1945
downrate1958
slim1963
downshift1972
society > trade and finance > monetary value > price > fluctuation in price > [verb (transitive)] > lower (price) > lower price of
to call down?1542
embase1577
lower?1662
sinka1684
settle1812
cheapen1833
to mark down1859
?1662 [see lowering n.].
1681 J. Child Treat. E.-India Trade iv. 35 Lowering our English Commodities, and advancing the Indian Commodities.
1693 J. Child New Disc. Trade Pref. sig. A7v Some..People..may..not know it is for their Advantage to lower their Interest.
1729 J. Swift Intelligencer No. 19. ⁋5 The Value of Guineas was lowered in England from 21s. 6d. to only 21s.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 172 The value of money is very considerably lowered since the bishop wrote.
1823 Ld. Byron Age of Bronze xiv. 28 Did the tyrant..lower wheat?
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) i. 3 I suppose your wages are lowered.
1886 Earl Spencer in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 305 1767 They have lowered the rents.
1902 Amer. Economist 5 Dec. 267/2 In a word, a great output of sugar lowers the price.
1989 Wall St. Jrnl. (European ed.) 14 Feb. 2/2 He declined to say whether he thinks the dollar should be lowered.
2011 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 26 May 14/2 The Republican Party today is obsessed not merely with not raising taxes but with lowering them further.
b. intransitive. Of a commodity, product, etc.: to decrease in price or value. Also with in, †of, or complement. Opposed to rise v. 23c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > decrease in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (intransitive)]
littleOE
setc1000
wanzec1175
lessc1225
allayc1275
wane1297
slaken1303
disincreasec1374
slakec1380
decrease1382
debatea1400
unwaxa1400
wastea1400
adminishc1400
lessenc1400
imminish14..
aslakec1405
minish?a1425
assuagec1430
shrinkc1449
to let down1486
decay1489
diminish1520
fall1523
rebate1540
batea1542
to come down1548
abate1560
stoop1572
pine1580
slack1580
scanten1585
shrivel1588
decrew1596
remit1629
contract1648
subside1680
lower1697
relax1701
drop1730
to take off1776
to run down1792
reduce1798
recede1810
to run off1816
to go down1823
attenuatea1834
ease1876
downscale1945
1697 in H. M. Burt First Cent. Hist. Springfield (1899) II. 347 Soe soon as that grain vizt Indian Corne lowers of the abovesaid price..then [etc.].
1766 Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser 29 Aug. At their last market wheat lowered two shillings per load.
1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland II. 665 Lamb..continues lowering in value as it becomes less rare.
1800 Monthly Mag. Oct. 295 Coffee continues to lower.
1823 Examiner 448/2 Meat will lower in price.
1860 Sci. Amer. 7 Apr. 235/3 Sugar has lowered about one-half cent per pound, on the average.
1907 Northwestern Miller 30 Oct. 286/1 Since wheat has lowered it is pretty hard to buy anything from the country.
1999 A. Carter Radical Green Polit. Theory ii. 30 The production costs will fall and the innovative product will lower in price.
c. transitive. To reduce (a figure, measurement, quantity, etc.) to a lower numerical value, esp. on a graduated scale. Frequently with from, to.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > lower position on graduated scale
lower1735
1735 Dramatic Historiographer 164 They lower'd the Number of his Attendants, first from an hundred to fifty, then to twenty-five, [etc.].
1788 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 78 129 Having dissolved in distilled water as much common salt as lowered its freezing point to 28°.
1845 W. R. Wagstaff Hist. Soc. Friends ix. 106 The Jesuit first said he would meet twelve of their wisest men; but he gradually lowered the number down to three.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. xxi. 344 To lower the melting point of the Montanvert ice.
1900 Michigan Alumnus June 397 Stuart lowered the time by two-fifths of a second.
1968 J. Q. Wilson Varieties of Police Behavior vii. 210 When police felt obliged to lower the speed limit.., they realized that the new limit (35 miles per hour) would be regarded as unreasonable.
2008 Independent on Sunday 24 Aug. 38/3 They urge that real thought be given to lowering the drinking age to 18.
8.
a. transitive. To make less in amount, degree, or intensity; to reduce, diminish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > make less violent or severe [verb (transitive)] > make less forceful or vigorous
extenuate1561
quay1590
retund1604
lower1666
weaken1683
subdue1723
feeble1831
soft-pedal1898
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > tone down
temperc1000
modifyc1385
softenc1410
tame?a1500
qualify1536
temperatea1540
extenuate1561
supple1609
dilute1665
palliate1665
weaken1683
subdue1723
lower1780
modulate1783
to shade away1817
to water down1832
to water down1836
sober1838
veil1843
to tone down1847
to break down1859
soothe1860
tone1884
to key down1891
soft-pedal1912
1666 J. Smith Γηροκομία Βασιλικὴ 109 Such a vast difference there is between the bloud in the Arteries newly brisked in the fountain, and that in the Veins lowered and impoverished with its journey.
1682 R. Kingston Cause & Cure Offences 2 Unless they lowred those aspiring thoughts, and abandoned their ambitious designs after Greatness, they could not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
1780 F. Burney Diary & Lett. (1842) I. 423 My illness..alone never yet lowered my spirits as they are now lowered.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. vi. 46 The light of both is lowered in the same proportion.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 629 Another time-honoured fashion of lowering intracranial tension is by purgatives.
1907 E. von Arnim Fräulein Schmidt xliii. 154 Please do not hate yourself. It does no good and lowers your vitality.
1952 W. J. Miller Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 6) xxiv. 481 (heading) Dust in the atmosphere lowers the temperature of the earth's surface.
1969 B. Spock Baby & Child Care (U.K. rev. ed.) 255 In some babies it looks as though teething lowers resistance.
1981 T. Schwartz Media (1983) 45 Unless we go to the trouble of turning off the set or lowering the sound, we cannot skip the commercials.
2004 BusinessWeek 3 May 120/1 Rather than lowering standards..many managers slow the flow by turning away new investors.
b. transitive. To give a lower pitch to (a note, the voice, etc.); to make (pitch, tone, etc.) deeper.
ΚΠ
1697 J. Smith Experienc'd Fowler 38 As you come nearer, lower your Note, humouring her in imitation.
1700 T. Brown et al. tr. P. Scarron Comical Romance i. ii. 4 in tr. P. Scarron Whole Comical Wks. I resum'd my Seat, my Crown, and my Gravity, and lower'd the Key of my Voice into a Base.
1786 Peruvian iii. 64 I played my part like a good musician in a concert; sometimes raising and sometime lowering my notes.
1846 J. R. Fry tr. A. Panseron ABC of Music (1848) 22 By raising the major intervals a semitone they become augmented; by lowering them a semitone they become minor.
1889 E. Prout Harmony (ed. 10) xvii. §448 If we take the second inversion of a chord of the seventh..and lower the bass note a chromatic semitone, we shall obtain a new combination.
1914 W. G. Rice Carillons Belgium & Holland vi. 108 Lengthening or shortening a violin string, the stress being the same, lowers or raises its pitch.
1987 Working Mother Sept. 20/1 Count down, lowering your voice with each number so that ‘one’ is spoken in the deepest tone you can produce.
1995 Leonardo 28 131/2 Accidental alterations (sharps and flats) that raise or lower the note by a semitone.
c. transitive. To decrease the strength of (esp. an alcoholic drink) by adding water or some other liquid; to dilute. Frequently with with. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > action or process of dilution > dilute [verb (transitive)]
thinc1000
woke1377
watera1387
allayc1450
delay1543
dilute1691
lower1698
to water down1866
cut1930
the world > matter > gas > air > [verb (transitive)] > reduce quality of
lower1793
1698 In Vino Veritas 8 A Liquid nick-named Freeze, which is..but a hungry, thin, sorry kind of Cyder, which does us a..kindness in lowering our Wines.
1731 P. Shaw Three Ess. Artific. Philos. 145 This Art of purifying Arracs with Milk, were tolerable, if they did not, at the same time, lower them with Water also.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Lowering Lowering a sample [of spirits] to the proof strength.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker II. 10 Milk..lowered with hot water.
1793 T. Beddoes Let. to E. Darwin 39 It would be more advantageous to lower the atmospheric air with hydrogene than with azotic air.
1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas I. ii. i. 176 [She made] him take a good draught of wine, a little lowered at proper intervals.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) ix. 108 Wot do you go a lowerin' the table [beer] for then?
1888 T. Hardy Wessex Tales II. 160 It is so blazing strong before it has been lowered by water, that it smells dreadfully when spilt in the road like that!
1921 National Baker July 60/2 Wash icing is simply medium soft sugar and water, or water or egg icing lowered with water, then applied, while hot, with a brush to the goods.
d. intransitive. To become less intense; to diminish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > become less violent or severe [verb (intransitive)] > lose vigour or intensity
swindOE
wane1297
forslacka1300
keelc1325
deadc1384
abatea1387
flag1639
to go off1642
subsidea1645
slacken1651
flat1654
lower1699
relax1701
deaden1723
entame1768
sober1825
lighten1827
sletch1847
slow1849
languish1855
bate1860
to slow up1861
to slow down1879
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. at Sink His Courage sinks or lowers,..Son Courage s'abbat, le Cœur lui manque.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. I. 159 The lurid light, which had filled the apartment, lowered and died away.
c1878 ‘Fernia’ Lady Victorine x. 84 The landlady's voice lowered respectfully.
1920 Good Housek. July 97/1 Gradually the eye tension lowered.
1986 J. Collins Hollywood Husbands (1987) xxiii. 124 Camera one panned back and the lights lowered.
2010 Times (N. Ireland ed.) (Nexis) 7 Apr. 7 With every word, our spirits lowered.
9. Phonetics.
a. transitive. To modify (a consonant) by lenition (lenition n. 2); to lenite. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > consonant > make consonantal [verb (transitive)] > make lenis
lower1800
mortify1808
lenate1909
lenite1912
1800 Monthly Mag. May 345/1 The c has three modifications in the Welsh; one consists of its being softened or lowered to a g.
1932 K. A. Ommanney Stage & School viii. 201 The sound of s before another consonant is lowered and made almost an sh.
b. transitive. To modify (a vowel) by articulating with the tongue further from the roof of the mouth. Cf. raise v.1 19g.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > furnish with or produce by vowel [verb (transitive)] > types of
obscurea1637
lower1836
labialize1855
reduce1861
round1869
raise1874
unround1874
delabialize1875
tense1978
1836 J. Nicholson tr. G. H. A. Ewald Gram. Hebrew Lang. ii. ii. 202 The characteristic vowel u-i is often lowered before the -â of the fem.
1888 H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds (new ed.) 21 In diphthongs of the (ij)-type there is a tendency to make the cleaving more distinct to the ear by divergence, the first element being lowered and retracted.
1927 E. V. Gordon Introd. Old Norse iv. ii. 255 Neither i nor u was lowered if i or j stood in the next syllable.
1959 A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. 122 had been unrounded to ē, and unrounded and lowered to ē.
2007 J. J. Smith Sound Change & Hist. Eng. iv. 92 A back glide vowel developed, at first as [u], but subsequently lowered and centred to [ə].
Phrases
P1. to lower one's voice: to speak more quietly, esp. for the purposes of secrecy or discretion. Also figurative. Cf. sense 8b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > quality of voice > impart specific tone or quality [verb (transitive)] > lower voice
underputa1382
fall1626
sink1646
to lower one's voicea1713
a1713 M. Geddes Several Tracts against Popery (1715) 222 Lowering his Voice as he comes to the Sanctus, &c. which he is to whisper over with the Ministers attending him.
1834 T. H. Lister Anne Grey II. xxvi. 115 Lowering his voice so that she alone could hear.
1892 Presbyterian & Reformed Rev. Apr. 330 Its whole doctrinal work is comprised in requesting the Church to lower its voice in telling the world the truth!
1912 E. Ferber Buttered Side Down 93 She leaned toward Miss Fink and lowered her voice discreetly.
1959 P. White Let. 12 Aug. (1994) vi. 158 I was brought up vaguely an Anglican—my mother lowers her voice when mentioning that So-and-So is a Roman Catholic.
1970 Boston Globe 23 May 2/5 Spiro T. Agnew, vowing he would not be muzzled and would not lower his voice, yesterday bitterly attacked members of the liberal news media.
2002 N.Y. Times Mag. 1 Sept. 45/2 Off-screen, in real conversation, people still have to lower their voices and look over their shoulders.
P2. to lower the tone: to diminish or debase the general spirit or moral character of something (as a discourse, conversation, place, etc.), esp. by lewd or inappropriate remarks or behaviour.
ΚΠ
1773 A. L. Barbauld in J. Aikin & A. L. Barbauld Misc. Pieces in Prose 69 The antient philosophers..never attempted..to lower the tone of philosophy, and make it consistent with all the indulgences of..sensuality.
1825 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 13/1 He was..appealing to the ignorance and passions of the lower orders... He thus lowered the tone of the debates.
1847 Eng. Jrnl. Educ. 1 234 You who..have been lowering the tone around you by selfishness and indolence.
1921 Bookseller & Stationer 15 May 434/1 We do not like to see signs in display windows, especially price tags. They seem to lower the tone.
1983 C. Heimel Sex Tips for Girls (1986) xvi. 176 ‘What about douching?’ wonders Rita. ‘Trust you to lower the tone,’ says Cleo.
2005 Gay Times Dec. 158/3 Expect Boogaloo Stu to lower the tone with his Pop-tastic record collection and potty-mouthed tomfoolery.
P3. North American slang. to lower the boom on: to inflict severe damage or harsh punishment on; to treat severely; (also) to put a stop to (an activity). Also to lower the boom: to deal a decisive or destructive blow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat
shendc893
overwinOE
overheaveOE
mate?c1225
to say checkmatea1346
vanquishc1366
stightlea1375
outrayc1390
to put undera1393
forbeat1393
to shave (a person's) beardc1412
to put to (also at, unto) the (also one's) worsec1425
adawc1440
supprisec1440
to knock downc1450
to put to the worsta1475
waurc1475
convanquish1483
to put out1485
trima1529
convince1548
foil1548
whip1571
evict1596
superate1598
reduce1605
convict1607
defail1608
cast1610
banga1616
evince1620
worst1646
conquer1655
cuffa1657
trounce1657
to ride down1670
outdo1677
routa1704
lurcha1716
fling1790
bowl1793
lick1800
beat1801
mill1810
to row (someone) up Salt River1828
defeat1830
sack1830
skunk1832
whop1836
pip1838
throw1850
to clean out1858
take1864
wallop1865
to sock it to1877
whack1877
to clean up1888
to beat out1893
to see off1919
to lower the boom on1920
tonk1926
clobber1944
ace1950
to run into the ground1955
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease activity [verb (intransitive)] > put a stop to an activity
to cry holla1523
to drop the flag1925
to lower the boom on1972
1920 Billboard 3 July 68/3 One of the elephant herd..pulled stakes one night last week and went forth in quest of more juicy ‘chewin'’ than hay, and certainly ‘lowered the boom’ on many gardens.
1924 Davenport (Iowa) Democrat & Leader 24 Aug. 27/3 Both had won decisions in their previous fights, so Morrie evidently decided it was time to lower the boom.
1948 Billboard 15 May 31/1 (title of song) Clancy lowered the boom.
1951 New Yorker 30 June 21/1 Just as they were about to pawn my studs.., my patience evaporated and I lowered the boom on them.
1963 J. N. Harris Weird World Wes Beattie (1964) xv. 186 Wes had been borrowing from everybody and his brother, and the boys had lowered the boom on him.
1972 Nevada State Jrnl. 15 Feb. 1 Reno's new chief of police has lowered the boom on the long-standing practice of ‘moonlighting’.
1975 Baldur (Manitoba) Gaz. 9 Apr. 4/1 March fooled everybody..with 25 days of Spring-like weather before lowering the boom with a lusty and gusty baby blizzard.
1994 New Republic 27 June 40/1 Khilnani..is not the first historian to lower the boom on the postwar French leftists.
2012 F. Peretti Illusion lx. 335 I wrecked my car three months ago—didn't hurt anybody..but I was DUI so they lowered the boom on me.
P4. to lower one's sights: see to lower one's sights at sight n.1 14b.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
> see also
also refers to : lourlowern.1
also refers to : lourlowern.2
also refers to : lourlowerv.
<
n.2a1325
adj.n.1adv.c1175
v.1575see also