Beneath Meaning
/bɪˈniːθ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advBelow or underneath.
prepBelow.
Sentence Examples
The money was hidden beneath the floorboards.
The ice will crack beneath our weight.
They found the body buried beneath a pile of leaves.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ruins lie buried ____ layers of volcanic ash.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small cat was hiding ____ the large wooden table in the kitchen.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English benethe, from Old English bineoþan (“beneath, under, below”), equivalent to be- + neath. Cognate with Low German benedden (“beneath”), Dutch beneden (“beneath, under, down”), obsolete German benieden (“below”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything."
— 2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80:
"Our country sinks beneath the yoke."
— c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
"Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ruins lie buried ____ layers of volcanic ash.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small cat was hiding ____ the large wooden table in the kitchen.