undern

English

Alternative forms

• underne, undirn

Etymology

From Middle English undern, ondern, from Old English undern (“third hour of the day; nine o'clock; morning”), from Proto-Germanic *undurniz (“interval”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥ter, *h₁enter (“between”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch onder, dialectal German Untern, dialectal Swedish undarn.

Noun

undern (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Synonym of terce: the third hour of daylight (about 9 am). [10th–15th c.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “ij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XI:

     ...wete yow wel that sir launcelot was glad and soo was that lady Elayne
     that she had geten sir launcelot in her armes...
     and soo they lay to gyders vntyl vndorne on the morn
     and alle the wyndowes and holes of that chamber were stopped that no manere of day myghte be sene

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (obsolete) Synonym of noon: the sixth hour of daylight (12 pm). [14th–15th c.]
3. (UK, dialectal) Synonym of afternoon. [from 15th c.]
4. (UK, dialectal) Synonym of evening. [from 15th c.]
5. (UK, dialectal) A light meal, particularly in the afternoon. [from 17th c.]

Synonyms

• (noon): meridian, sext; see also Thesaurus:midday
• (afternoon): arvo; see also Thesaurus:afternoon
• (evening): eventide; see also Thesaurus:evening
• (light meal): snack

Derived terms

• andersmeat, half undern, high undern, undermeal, undern-bell, undern-song, underntide, undertide, whole undern

Translations

light meal

• French: casse-croûte (fr) m (morning), goûter (fr) m (afternoon)

References

• "undern, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Anagrams

• dunner, end run, runned

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *undurniz (“interval”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥ter, *h₁enter (“between”). Influenced in sense by Latin tertia. Cognate with Old Norse undorn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈun.dern/, [ˈun.derˠn]

Noun

undern m

1. terce, the third hour of the day (around 9 am)
2. (in some later use) midday, the sixth hour of the day (12 pm)
3. (in compounds) morning generally

Synonyms

• (third hour): undernmǣl, underntīd, underntima
• (sixth hour): middæġ

Hypernyms

• stunda, tid

Derived terms

• underngereord, underngifl, undernmete, undernrest, undernsang, undernswæsendu

Descendants

• Middle English: ondern, undern
  • English: undern

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “undern”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.