Underlie Definition

ŭndər-lī
underlain, underlay, underlies, underlying
verb
To be located under or below.
American Heritage
To lie under or beneath.
Trusses underlie the roof.
Webster's New World
To be the basis for; form the foundation of.
Webster's New World
To have priority over (another) in order of claim, as a bond.
Webster's New World
To constitute a prior claim over.
American Heritage
Synonyms:

Origin of Underlie

  • From Middle English underliggen, from Old English underlicgan (“to underlie, to be subject to, give way to"), equivalent to under- +"Ž lie. Cognate with Dutch onderliggen (“to lie below, lie on the bottom of"), German unterliegen (“to lie under, be subject to, succumb").

    From Wiktionary

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to underlie using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

underlie