Etymograph

English

nether

Nether comes from Old English niþera ‘lower, under, lowest’, from niþer ‘down, downwards’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ni-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ni-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*niþer‘down, downwards’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘down, downwards’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150niþer‘down, downwards’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150niþera‘lower, under, lowest’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nether
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1873same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ni-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*niþer‘down, downwards’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame form‘down, downwards’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150niþer‘down, downwards’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150niþera‘lower, under, lowest’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nether
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1873same form

Earliest quotation: 1873, Mark Twain, The Gilded Age: “When one thinks of the tremendous forces of the…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *ni-

Another origin of nether

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*niter‘down’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*niþer‘down, downwards’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150niþer‘below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150niþerian‘to depress, abase, bring low, humiliate, oppress, accuse, condemn’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500nitheren
  6. Englishtodaynether

Today it means

adj Lower; under.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ni- / nether

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