nether

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   situated below or beneath; lower, chiefly in literary or fixed expressions

   A narrow stair led from the hall to the nether chamber.

2. 2
   adj

   belonging to an underworld or subterranean realm

   The villagers feared that the creature had risen from the nether world.

From Middle English nether, from Old English nithera ("lower, under"), related to an old Germanic adverb meaning "down". Cognates include Dutch neder and German nieder. In present-day English it survives mainly in literary combinations such as nether world and nether regions.

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