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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Beneath

Be-nēath’, prep.

preposition

[A-S. beneoth, beneodhan, benydhan, from the prefix be and neodhan, nydhan, downward, beneath; O. H. Ger. nidana, nidaman, N. H. Ger. nieden, Icel. nedhan, Sw. neden, Dan. neden, D. beneden. See NETHER.]

Sense 1. Lower in place, with something directly over or on; under.

Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies. Pope.

Sense 2. (Fig.) Under, as from the effect of pressure.

Our country sinks beneath the yoke. Shak.

Sense 3. Lower in rank, dignity, or excellence than; hence, unworthy of; unbecoming; as, brutes are beneath man; man is beneath angels in the scale of beings.

He will do nothing that is beneath his high station. Atterbury.

Be-nēath' or Be-nĕath', adv.

adverb

adv. 1. In a lower place. “The earth which you take from beneath will be barren.” Mortimer. 2. Below, as opposed to heaven, or to any superior region; as, in heaven above, or in earth beneath. Syn.—See BELOW.