netheradj.n.
/ˈnɛðə/, U.S. /ˈnɛðər/ Now chiefly literary.
A. adj.
1. Designating the lower or bottom part (section, component, segment, etc.) of a person or thing. Also figurative.
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
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in downward direction
adowneOE
netherwardsOE
shireOE
netherOE
netherOE
netherwardOE
downOE
adownwardOE
downwardslOE
downwardc1225
downhilla1398
alowc1450
downwith1488
downside1664
dahn1849
OE Blickling Homilies 239 Gangað on þas niðeran dælas þisse ceastre.
OE tr. Medicina de Quadrupedibus (Vitell.) ii. 238 Of ðam [sc. morbeam] nim æppel... He bið behefe to ðam neoðran dæle þæs lichoman.
c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) 527 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 234 (MED) A-boue him was a cloth i-tild, with tweie tonguene faste; to is chin tilde þe neoþer ende.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Ecclus. xxiv. 45 I shal persen alle the nethere partis of the erthe.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 355 Nethyr part of a thynge, Inferior.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 32v (MED) His braunche..goiþ to þe hyndere part & þe neþerer of þe hand.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) x. 21 The nethir half [of the way] wes perelouss.
a1500 Tale of Basin in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 55 When þe baly was full, [she would] lye down and wynke, And rest hir neder ende.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. xi. f. 321 Lines..which ioyne together the angles of the vpper and nether bases.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies ii. xii. 108 Experience dooth teach vs, that the middle region of the ayre is colder than the neather.
1640 T. Cuningham Jrnl. (1928) 18 Into the neather end of the garter.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 29 A beautous Maid above, but Magick Arts, With barking Dogs deform'd her neather parts.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Anc. Mariner (rev. ed.) iii, in Sibylline Leaves 15 With one bright star Within the nether tip.
1826 W. Scott Woodstock I. iii. 80 At the nether end of the hall, a huge..chimney-piece, projected.
1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) xi. §519 Upon the nether side of the cloud-ring.
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native II. iii. v. 162 They wandered onward till they reached the nether margin of the heath.
1888 W. Raymond Misterton's Mistake 302 Be we to begin at the nether end, Mr. Coombes?
1978 J. P. Stern Nietzsche v. 71 Nihilism is the nether end of decadence.
1992 M. Blonsky Amer. Mythologies (1993) xiv. 334 The media tell the ancient tale of the city as corrupt and its nether parts as the womb of evil.
2.
a. Of the lip, jaw, teeth, or eyelid: lower (now more usually lower or under).
ΚΠ
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 59 Abum [read Labrum], neoðera welor.
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 168 Labrum, niþera lippe.
c1300 St. Margarete (Harl.) 160 He..gan his ouere cheoke ouer hire heued do & his nyþere cheoke byneþe at hire ho.
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 1468 (MED) His neþer chauel he smot doun.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 173 Tantalus stondeþ alway in a water vp anon to þe ouer brerde of þe neþer lippe.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 103 (MED) Signez of dislocacioun..ar þat neuer þe vpper teþ may be euened with þe nyþer.
c1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Vesp. B.xii) (1904) 28 (MED) The boores..han iiii tusshes, to in þe jawle boue and ii in the nethir jawle.
c1450 J. Metham Physiognomy in Wks. (1916) 124 (MED) The nedyr-lyd, yff yt be thyk and ful, yt sygnyfyith hastynes.
c1450 J. Metham Physiognomy in Wks. (1916) 133 (MED) Iff the nedyr lyppe stond owte be-ffore the ouyr, yt sygnyfyith onclennes off lyuyng.
c1475 ( Surg. Treat. in MS Wellcome 564 f. 28 The ij bonys of þe neþere chekis ben ioyned..in þe sidis of whom ben stiked þe neþere teeþ.
a1500 in W. C. Hazlitt Remains Early Pop. Poetry Eng. (1866) III. 95 (MED) The nedur lippe of a larke Was broght in a muk cart.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. F.ij Muscles..moue the nether Iawe.
1595 Edinb. Test. XXVIII. f. 256, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Diseassit with the cancer in his nether lip.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 77 Pieces of gold..hanging upon their nether lips.
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Job v. 9 Who can give a naturall reason of the strength of the neather-chap?
1753 T. Smollett Ferdinand Count Fathom II. li. 136 Looby's face grew pale, and his nether lip began to tremble.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. ii. 60 I had mumbled but a lame mass an thou hadst broken my jaw, for the piper plays ill that wants the nether chops.
1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons I. iii. v. 251 An uneasy gnawing of the nether lip.
1857–61 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. (1869) II. viii. 469 A nether jaw protruding so hideously that his teeth could never meet.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. xx. 226 When Bathsheba was swayed by an emotion of an earthly sort her lower lip trembled..Her nether lip quivered now.
1960 H. Lee To kill Mockingbird (1963) i. xi. 112 From time to time she would draw her nether lip to her upper plate and carry her chin with it.
1994 R. Davies Cunning Man 148 All the beauty and diablerie of that great player had been lost, and only the mannerisms—grunting, eye-flashing, and gnawing the nether lip—remained.
b. Of the (usually human) body: lower; of or belonging to the lower or bottom part; esp. in nether garment, nether man, nether person.nether garments is usually taken to refer specifically and euphemistically to underwear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun]
shanka900
legc1300
grainsa1400
limbc1400
foot?a1425
stumpa1500
pin?1515
pestlea1529
boughc1550
stamp1567
understander1583
pile1584
supporters1601
walker?1611
trestle1612
fetlock1645
pedestal1695
drumstick1770
gam1785
timber1807
tram1808–18
fork1812
prop1817
nethers1822
forkals1828
understanding1828
stick1830
nether person1835
locomotive1836
nether man1846
underpinning1848
bender1849
Scotch peg1857
Scotch1859
under-pinner1859
stem1860
Coryate's compasses1864
peg1891
wheel1927
shaft1935
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) ii. 179 Þe ouer lymes gouerneþ and ȝeueþ; þe neþer [?a1475 anon. tr. inferialle; L. inferiora] lymmes bereþ and serueþ.
1522 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte 1197 Lest he..make hym lame of his neder limmes.
1641 in Sc. Hist. Rev. 9 364 England Warr'd Ireland in wearing of trewes: For Ireland but weares them on their nether parts.
1651 T. Randolph et al. Hey for Honesty iii. i. 21/1 By these good stampers, upper and neather duds; Ile nip from Ruffmans of the Harmanbeck.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 784 All my nether shape thus grew Transform'd. View more context for this quotation
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck i, in Poet. Wks. (1796) 28 Now, seen on ocean's utmost verge to swim, He sweeps it vibrant with his nether limb.
1834 C. Brontë in L. Gordon Charlotte Brontë (1995) ii. 32 His figure, too, though diminutive was perfectly symmetrical, and of this he seemed not unconscious, from the frequent and complacent looks he cast down on his nether man.
1835 J. P. Kennedy Horse-shoe Robinson I. xvi. 307 His nether person was rendered conspicuous by a pair of dingy small clothes.
1836 F. Marryat Japhet I. i. 4 Long before the old porter could pull his legs through his nether garments.
1846 C. G. F. Gore Sketches Eng. Char. (1852) 151 We found a still idler fellow..warming his nether-man on the hearth-rug.
1847 S. C. Reid Scouting Exped. McCulloch's Texas Rangers xii. 116 A third was sitting up mending his chaparral-torn unmentionables... He of our mess having finished repairing his nether garment ‘by the light of the moon’, we all dropped off to sleep.
1863 A. Marsh Heathside Farm I. 28 Whose nether man was generally cased in brown spats (Anglice gaiters).
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage lix. 303 She scented indecency everywhere; she never spoke of trousers but referred to them as nether garments.
1969 B. Malamud Pictures of Fidelman (1972) v. 109 The stranger's nether limbs, clothed in coarse black stockings.
1993 Clothes Show Mag. Feb. 93 89/2 There have been as many names for knickers over the years as there are styles available in the shops... small clothes; nether garments; long johns, [etc.].
3. Of a thing, object, component, etc.: lower, bottommost; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adjective] > lowest
nethemesteOE
nethereOE
netherestc1350
lowerc1384
nethermosta1387
lowest1538
lowermost1547
lowmost1548
undermost1555
downmostc1600
bottommost1694
downermost1831
nadiral1891
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xxii. 210 Þonne sceal him mon..blod lætan of þam swiðran earme on þære niþerran ædre.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 185 (MED) Þe planetes and þe neyþer wolkons moeueþ out of þe west in to þe est.
?c1425 Crafte Nombrynge in R. Steele Earliest Arithm. in Eng. (1922) 9 (MED) Þe figure of þe hyer rewe &..þe figure of þe neþer rewe.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 394 Sir Trystrames bledde bothe the over-shete and the neyther-sheete.
a1500 ( Pilgrimage of Soul (Egerton) (1953) v. ii. f. 88 (MED) This nethir speer..contrarieth contynualy the moevyng of þat othir.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiii The body of the wayn.., the nethar rathes, the ouer rathes.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 14 The skirts flow loosely fringed below; the upper shorter then the neather.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 346 'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding Fires. View more context for this quotation
a1718 T. Parnell Poems Several Occasions (1721) 153 Thro' their Ranks in silver pride The nether Crescent seems to glide.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke II. xvii. 261 The nether fires of doubt glaring through.
1866 W. D. Howells Venetian Life ii. 20 All my nether-spirit, so to speak, was dulled and jaded.
1895 S. R. Crockett Men of Moss-hags li They unrove the nether rope and drew little Margaret up to the bank.
1926 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Drunk Man looks at Thistle 2 Souse the craturs in the nether deeps.
1955 R. Lindner Fifty-minute Hour 203 He probed deeper and deeper into forgotten memories, into the nether recesses of his twisted personality.
1990 Independent 30 Jan. 19 Football is a part of the nether-culture of English life with which its ruling classes are least familiar.
4. † b. Nether House n. the House of Commons. Obsolete. historical in later use.Apparently only current in the reign of Henry VIII.
a. Of a geographical feature (frequently of a country, district, hamlet, farm, etc.) or of an area of a city, etc.: that which is small, low-lying, not important or powerful, etc., especially when compared with another or others.In place names, used in distinguishing between several places with the same name; Lower or Low are now more usually used for this purpose, but Nether is still found in place names and street names in some areas (e.g. Nethergate). Nether Dutch and Nether German have occasionally been used in English in place of the usual Low (†Dutch or) German, after the equivalent terms in Dutch and German (see Low German n. and adj.).
ΚΠ
OE Will of King Ælfred (Sawyer 1507) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 17 Ic him an þæs landes æt Cantuctune..& æt Hysseburnan... & ealle þa bocland þe ic on Cent hæbbe & æt þam nyðeran Hysseburnan..agyfe man in to Wintanceastre.
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) ii. v. 113 Þæt wæter..is gegyred to þam neoðerum stowum fram þam cnolle þæs muntes.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) v. 11 Ne onscunige ic no þæs neoþeran & þæs unclænan stowe.
1300 in T. F. Dukes Antiq. Shropshire (1844) App. p. xvii Descendendo perdictam viam usque le over Smeth et descendendo per le nether Smeth.
1300 in T. F. Dukes Antiq. Shropshire (1844) App. p. xix Ville de Acton Burnell,..Over Stanwey, Nether Stanwey, [etc.].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 127 In þe west side of þe neþer Galilea toward þe grete see.
c1460 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Oseney Abbey (1907) 142 (MED) Þe parische church of Heyforde þe neþer.
a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 10043 Ȝit ben þere helles two, Þe nether and þe ouer helle.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) viii. iii. 124 Thai wester partis..Quhilkis ar bedeit wyth the neder se.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. 1198 Þir lyis in Neþir Sithia.
a1530 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Royal) i. 1227 In þat Neþir Germany All Northtwaye is.
1560 Bible (Geneva) 1 Kings ix. 17 Salomon buylt Gezer and Beth~horon the nether.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 17 Vuir Clydisdale..as lykwyse nathir Cludisdale.
1629 S. Rutherford Lett. (1863) I. v. 47 While we are lodged here, we..must be content to remove from one corner of our Lord's nether house to another.
1648 Treatie of Peace Munster (title) Translated out of Netherdutch into English by H. H. according to the Originall and authentic Coppie.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. 62 The rising Rivers float the nether ground. View more context for this quotation
1745 R. Pococke Descr. East II. ii. 202 We were now in the nether principality of the kingdom of Naples.
1851 W. Anderson Rhymes 121 At the nethergate wall By Saint Mary's aisle.
1895 T. Hardy Jude iv. i. 250 The view from the Castle Green over three counties of verdant pasture—South, Mid and Nether Wessex—being as sudden a surprise to the unexpectant traveller's eyes as the medicinal air is to his lungs.
1963 N.E. Scotl. 91 Easter or Wester, Nether, Mid or Upper are common all over the region.
1986 R. M. Sunter Patronage Politics in Scotl. 1701–1832 (BNC) 64 Weir had been piling one office upon another, and had recently added to his collection that of sheriff-substitute in the Nether-ward of Lanarkshire.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > House of Commons
commons?1433
commonalty1450
Nether House1536
House of Commons1604
grand (or great) inquest of the nation1691
the best club in London1864
1536 T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman Life & Lett. T. Cromwell (1902) II. 47 Suche Actes as haue been in this session of that parliament passed the nether and higher houses.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1553/1 The commons of the nether house beganne to common [1587 commune] of their greefes.
1640 J. Yorke Union of Honour 47 Certaine Lords of the upper house of parliament, came into the nether.
1687 N. Johnston Assurance Abbey & Church-lands 180 After which the Speaker with the Commons departed to the Nether House.
5. Designating what lies, or is imagined as lying, beneath the earth; of, belonging to, or native to hell or the underworld. See also nether region n. 2a and netherworld n. 2; cf. underworld n. 2a. Also figurative: designating a sphere of action or thought existing, or considered as existing below or at a lower level than the usual; esp. in netherland.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [adjective]
nethereOE
hellena1225
infernalc1374
infern?a1513
hellish1530
helly1532
Avernal?1548
hellic1566
subterrestrial1592
Plutonic1596
Acherontic1597
Plutonical1599
Stygian1601
subterranean1603
Plutonian1604
Acherontical1610
subterraneous1631
subterraneal1643
Tophetical1684
pandemoniac1793
submundane1805
subterrene1809
netherworld1828
pandemonic1833
Acheronian1849
transacherontic1854
Avernian1864
trans-Stygian1899
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) lxxxvii. 6 (7) Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori in tenebris : settun mec in seaðe ðæm nioðerran in ðeostrum.
OE Blickling Homilies 89 Þu generedest mine saule of þære neoþeran helle.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 124v Olde errour of naciouns..halowid..Februere to þe neþir goddis.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 282 Must pass the Stygian Lake, and view the neather Skies.
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Cock & Fox in Wks. (1885) XI. 359 Had Orpheus sung it in the nether sphere, So much the hymn had pleased the tyrant's ear.
1811 R. Heber tr. Pindar in Q. Rev. May 455 In chambers dark and dread Of nether earth abide and penal flame.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna i. xxx. 16 The hell, His reign and dwelling beneath nether skies.
1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 10 A cauldron fired With the fires of nether hell.
1921 Periodical Dec. 131 His incarnation is the snake, at Epidauros, Kos, and Rome, and the snake-rod becomes the symbol of the physician; but this mysterious beast was equally the familiar of the buried hero and of the nether-god.
1924 J. Buchan Three Hostages xv. 216 When he came to he was..in a room which felt spacious..but it was..as black as the nether pit.
1972 Observer 16 Apr. (Colour Suppl.) 18/2 I tried to plot and memorise a potential route through this maze of netherland.
1994 Guardian 26 Sept. ii. 2/4 There is scarcely a permanent secretary who doesn't have punts and violet-lawned quadrangles floating through the faded netherlands of his mind.
6. Of or belonging to the earth, humankind, etc., as contrasted with heaven or the heavens; base, worldly; low, lowly, benighted. See also netherworld n. 1; cf. underworld n. 1. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > [adjective]
earthlyOE
netherOE
lowc1225
terrene13..
terrestre1340
temporalc1380
earthyc1429
terrestrialc1460
inferial?a1475
mundanec1475
mundial1499
earthish?1533
terrenala1555
terreal1598
terrestrene1599
sublunary1609
sublunar1610
mundal1614
temporarya1616
earth-born1626
terranean1653
circumterraneous1678
subcelestial1706
terraneousa1711
terrean1714
terrigenal1744
subastral1752
geotic1755
tellurian1786
worldly1812
telluric1813
transglobal1953
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Hatton) (1900) ii. xxxv. 174 Hu nearwe & gehwæde wæron ealle þa neoðerran gesceafta.
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 191 Inferioris uitę : þæs niþeran lifes.
c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 71 Throu thame, all the vertue of this nethir warld be gouernyt.
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xvi. 78 This shewes you are aboue your Iustices, That these our nether crimes so speedely can venge.
1781 H. Downman Death of Caesar iii. iii. 373 He was on earth! bear witness mighty gods! Who to his sway resign'd this nether sphere.
1786 S. Rogers Ode Superstit. iii. ii. 12 To aspire Beyond this nether sphere.
1832 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. May 390/2 Thus do Men and Sheep play their parts on this Nether Earth.
1877 R. W. Buchanan Compl. Poet. Wks. (1901) I. 437 Haunter is he of this sad nether sphere.
B. n.
In plural. The lower or bottom parts; the lower limbs or bodily organs; garments or covering for the lower half of the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > leg > [noun]
shanka900
legc1300
grainsa1400
limbc1400
foot?a1425
stumpa1500
pin?1515
pestlea1529
boughc1550
stamp1567
understander1583
pile1584
supporters1601
walker?1611
trestle1612
fetlock1645
pedestal1695
drumstick1770
gam1785
timber1807
tram1808–18
fork1812
prop1817
nethers1822
forkals1828
understanding1828
stick1830
nether person1835
locomotive1836
nether man1846
underpinning1848
bender1849
Scotch peg1857
Scotch1859
under-pinner1859
stem1860
Coryate's compasses1864
peg1891
wheel1927
shaft1935
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) cxxxviii. 13 (15) In inferioribus terrae : in ðæm nioðerrum eordan.
1822 T. Mitchell tr. Aristophanes Wasps in tr. Aristophanes Comedies II. 175 With a cloak duly tuck'd round their nethers.
1844 Punch 7 206 A black coat; but you need not change your Tweed nethers for black ones.
1938 T. H. White Sword in Stone viii. 139 Some plucked the partridge's nethers, While others pulled his head off.
1995 Just Seventeen 5 Apr. 60/1 To keep your nethers clean and in healthy working order, the vagina produces a milky white substance.
Compounds
C1. Special collocations.† nether beard n. Obsolete pubic hair.† nether-formed adj. Geology Obsolete = hypogene adj.† nether glove n. Obsolete a greave.† nether vert n. Obsolete undergrowth; bushes, etc., growing beneath the tree canopy.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 69v Þey come to þe ȝere of pupberte, þat is when þe neþir berd her growiþ first in þe schare [L. ad annum pubertatis].
?1533 G. Du Wes Introductorie for to lerne Frenche sig. Biv The nether beerd, la penilliere.
1582 S. Batman Vppon Bartholome, De Proprietatibus Rerum vi. vi. f. 73/1 In the time of Puberte..haire groweth on the neather beard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [adjective] > primary or hypogene
hypogene1833
nether-formed1833
protogenic1877
primary1886
1833 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 374 We propose the term ‘hypogene’..a word implying the theory that granite and gneiss are both nether-formed rocks, or rocks which have not assumed their present form and structure at the surface.
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands ii. x. 248 It is where the old, hard, nether-formed rocks frowningly appear above the water.
ΚΠ
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 4959 (MED) Nymes of ȝour nethirgloue & nakens ȝoure leggis.
1451 in A. Clark Lincoln Diocese Documents (1914) 51 (MED) I will my child..hafe..my nethir glofys.
nether millstone n. the lower of the two millstones, which remains stationary, and is exceptionally hard; usually figurative or in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [noun] > hard substance or thing > the hard part > the hardest part
nether millstone1560
nether stone1869
1560 Bible (Geneva) Job xli. 14 His heart is as strong as a stone, and as hard as the nether milstone.
1647 N. Bacon Hist. Disc. Govt. 95 The defendants armes (which were accounted as the Nether-milstone or stock of maintenance).
1770 J. Ferguson Lect. (1805) I. 82 The upper part of the spindle turns in a wooden bush fixt into the nether millstone.
1877 W. Black Green Pastures xxviii I believe you have a heart as hard as the nether millstone.
1924 B. Pain in Nash's Mag. June 7 He is so hard that he puts the nether millstone among the also-ran.
1950 A. Bryant Age of Elegance ii. 40 Not only were the French Armies of Portugal and the North..marching to the fortress's relief, but Soult and Joseph with 60,000 men were threatening Madrid from Valencia. The British were in Danger of being crushed between the upper and nether millstones.
nether stone n. = nether millstone n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > [noun] > hard substance or thing > the hard part > the hardest part
nether millstone1560
nether stone1869
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 247 Twa grindelstanes ne schulde namon twimmen. Þe neoðere þe lið stille & bereð heui charge..Þe uuere stan.
1781 S. Pegge in Archaeologia (1785) 7 20 The stones which composed these primitive..mills..were two; an upper stone or runner, and a nether, called in Derbyshire the ligger.]
1869 R. Browning Ring & Bk. IV. x. 49 He shall make the sword To match that piece of netherstone his heart.
1988 Yankee Oct. 110/1 It's the friction against the lower ‘bed’ or ‘nether’ stone that reduces the corn kernels to meal.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Manwood Treat. Lawes Forrest vi. f. 34 Neather vert, is that which the Lawiers do call South Boys, and that is properly all manner of vnder~wood, and all Bushes, Thornes, Gorse, and the like.
C2. euphemistic. In various compounds signifying the anus or vulva. Frequently in ad hoc formations.
ΚΠ
c1390 G. Chaucer Miller's Tale 3852 Absolon hath kist hir nether eye.
c1395 G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale 44b I haue wedded fyue, Of whiche I haue pyked out the beste, Bothe of here nether purs and of here cheste.
a1450 Castle Perseverance (1969) l. 814 Goode boy, cum blow At my neþer ende!
a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 180 Se þe privehouse for esement be fayre, soote, & clene..looke þer be blanket, cotyn, or lynyn to wipe þe neþur ende.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 205 He..had in effect won his way so far as to make me sensible of the pleasing stretch of those nether-lips, from the in-driving machine.
1919 H. Crane Let. 13 Dec. (1965) 26 That sentence of Raleigh's where he says he was but clearing his nether throat.
1984 G. Jennings Journeyer 211 While I slept I wore inserted into my nether aperture a golulè.
1992 C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves 493 The figure is a woman with her legs wide apart, with her ‘nether mouth’ revealed.
1998 M. Warner No Go Bogeyman (2000) 240 The sheela-na-gig, with her vulva defiantly exposed—the nether mouth—dances and displays herself.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† netheradv.1
Obsolete.
1. Down, downwards.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [adverb] > in downward direction
adowneOE
netherwardsOE
shireOE
netherOE
netherOE
netherwardOE
downOE
adownwardOE
downwardslOE
downwardc1225
downhilla1398
alowc1450
downwith1488
downside1664
dahn1849
OE Beowulf 1360 Ðær fyrgenstream under næssa genipu niþer gewiteð.
OE Blickling Homilies 101 Þæt flæsc afulað, & wyrmum awealleþ, & neþer afloweþ.
lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1012 Sloh hine þa an heora..þet he mid þam dynte niðer asah.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xli. 147 Þæt tacnað þæt he sceal ma þencan up þonne nyðer.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 111 (MED) Erest he steg neoðer and siðen on hegh..he com neðer to helle.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 370 Niðful neddre, loð an liðer, Sal gliden on hise brest neðer.
2. In compounds.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iv. §15. 30 Hi gefyllað twa tida mid hyra upgange, oððe niþergange.
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 23 Ægðer ge upstigende englas ge niþerstigende.
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 23 Se upstige and se niþerstige.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 111 Erest he steg neoðer..: of neoðerstienge specð dauid on þe salm boc.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
† netheradv.2
Obsolete.
1. Down, low down; beneath, below.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adverb]
netherOE
downlOE
downwardc1225
lowlyc1330
downwards?a1425
low-downc1425
abasea1450
lowera1475
baselya1500
humbly1746
OE Crist III 1466 Læg min flæschoma in foldan bigrafen, niþre gehyded.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) cl. 192 Ðeos wyrte..hafaþ smæle leaf on fingres lencge & todælede & nyþer wið þa eorþan ahyldende.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxxix. 136 Þæt leohte fyr..up gewit, & sio hefige eorðe sit þær niðere.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xli. 147 Þi læs þæt mod sie nioðoror þonne ðe lichoma.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 1982 Þa Englisce ouer-comen þe Brutuns, & brouhten heom þer neoðere [c1300 Otho vnder fote].
c1300 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Laud) l. 317 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 209 Wrechche gostus þare–inne seten..some to heore nauele and some neþerrore more.
c1400 (a1349) R. Rolle Meditations on Passion (Cambr.) in Eng. Writings (1931) 26 (MED) I wolde..lay me flat on þe grounde, and neþerere ȝyf I myȝte.
2. In compounds. Cf. nether adj.
ΚΠ
OE Paris Psalter (1932) cxxxviii. 13 Þeh min lichama..on niðerdælum eorðan wunige.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 173 Hie tu[r]neð..fram þe dome to helle, to þe niðer wunienge.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
† netheradv.3
Obsolete.
Lower, lower down, further down.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > low position > [adverb] > lower
netherOE
inferiorly1556
inferior1598
OE Beowulf 2699 Þæt he þone niðgæst nioðor hwene sloh.
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 14 Þelæs þe þæt mod sy neoðer, þonne se lichoma.
lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) xxxiii. 80 Sio eorþe..is nioðor þonne ænig oðru gesceaft buton þam rodore.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 103 (MED) He beð neðer þanne he er was.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.n.eOE
adv.1OEadv.2OEadv.3OE