nether

CEFRC1

/nɛð.ə/

adjective · adverb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Lower or below something else.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Down; downward.

Examples

  • What do you need to build a nether portal?

  • Between the upper and nether millstone.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2
Synonyms
4

Also pronounced

  • /neð.ə/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Lying beneath, or conceived as lying beneath, the Earth’s surface.

  2. Lower; under.

adverb

Extra meaning

  1. Low; low down.

More examples

In context

  • The nether gate was opened.

  • The disappointed child’s nether lip quivered.

  • the nether regions

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In ancient myths, the blank world is a dark and cold place where souls go.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle English nether, nethere, nithere, from Old English niþera (“lower, under, lowest”, adjective), from niþer, niþor (“below, beneath, down, downwards, lower, in an inferior position”, adverb), from Proto-West Germanic *niþer, from Proto-Germanic *niþer, *niþra (“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *ni-, *nei- (“in, down”). Cognates include Dutch neder, German nieder, Luxembourgish nidder, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish ned, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish nedre (“lower”), Faroese and Icelandic niður.