Wiktionary

underlying

English

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Etymology

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By surface analysis, underlie +‎ -ing.

Adjective

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underlying (not comparable)

  1. (literal) lying underneath
    We dug down to the underlying rock.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto II”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
      Old Yew, which graspest at the stones
      ⁠That name the under-lying dead,
      ⁠Thy fibres net the dreamless head,
      Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
    • 1950 January, “Re-Signalling at Liverpool Lime Street Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 43:
      During the track renewals, advantage was taken to redrain the area and the old spent ballast was removed down to the underlying rock, new ballast and drains being provided throughout.
    • 2012, Chinle Miller, In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition:
      Sometimes, the underlying layers are exposed by erosion, revealing the story of the rocks like an open book.
  2. basic or fundamental
    Points and straight lines are underlying elements of geometry.
    • 2018 January 18, Jürgen Götz, “Why it’s so hard to treat dementia”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Finding a successful treatment for Alzheimer’s faces two major hurdles: the first being we still don’t know enough about the disease’s underlying biology.
    • 2020 December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, in Rail, page 56:
      The underlying problem with transport policy is that there no coherent strategy. Ministers have tended to encourage greater use of motor vehicles through both transport and (particularly) planning policies, while simultaneously warning of the terrible consequences of unfettered growth of road use.
  3. implicit
    Many nursery rhymes have an underlying meaning.

Usage notes

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This adjective is overwhelmingly often (if not always) found in attributive rather than predicative use.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Translations to be checked

Noun

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underlying (plural underlyings)

  1. (finance) The entity from whose performance a derivative derives its value.
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Verb

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underlying

  1. present participle and gerund of underlie

Anagrams

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