underlie

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˌʌn.dɚˈlaɪ/ UK /ˌʌn.dəˈlaɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #146219

Meanings

1

verb
to lie beneath something

Layers of clay underlie the field.
2

verb
to be the hidden basis or cause of something

A simple assumption underlies the whole theory.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to lie beneath something lie undersit beneath

2 verb · to be the hidden basis or... underpinsupport ground

More subtend

Opposites

overlie

Word family

Derived forms underlainunderlayunderliesunderlying

Related forms underlying

Etymology

From Middle English underlien, underliggen, from Old English underliċġan ("to underlie"), equivalent to under + lie.

underlien Middle English underliċġan Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# underlie

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˌʌn.dɚˈlaɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌʌn.dəˈlaɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 146219

## Meanings
1. to lie beneath something
2. to be the hidden basis or cause of something

## Examples
- Layers of clay underlie the field.
- A simple assumption underlies the whole theory.

## Synonyms
- lie under
- underpin
- support
- ground
- subtend

## Antonyms
- overlie

## Derived Forms
- underlain
- underlay
- underlies
- underlying

## Related Forms
- underlying

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: underlien
- Root: underliċġan

## Etymology
From Middle English underlien, underliggen, from Old English underliċġan ("to underlie"), equivalent to under + lie.

## AI Etymology
Underlie comes from Middle English underlien and Old English underliċġan, literally under + lie. The physical sense is to lie beneath something. The abstract sense follows naturally: a principle, cause, or assumption can lie beneath an argument, event, or system. Forms such as underlies, underlying, underlay, and underlain belong to this same verb family. The word is therefore a headword, while converged and similar inflections belong under their verb roots.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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