English

below

Below comes from Middle English bilooghe.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1670, John Milton, (please specify the page): “They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […]…”

Formed from be- + low

Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ‘at, near’

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near, by’

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

English be-

Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’

…

Proto-Germanic *ligjaną ‘to lie’

Proto-Germanic *lēgaz ‘low’

Old Norse lágr

Middle English lāh

English low

Every English word from Middle English bilooghe

prep Lower in spatial position than.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.