underscore

English

Etymology

From under- +‎ score.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈʌn.də(ɹ)ˌskɔː(ɹ)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

underscore (plural underscores)

1. An underline; a line drawn or printed beneath text; the character _.
2. (music) A piece of background music.

Translations

an underline

• Czech: podtržítko n
• Finnish: alaviiva (fi)
• French: tiret bas (fr) m, souligné (fr) m, blanc souligné (fr) m, sous-tiret (fr) m
• German: Unterstreichung f (line); Unterstrich m (character), (character) Grundstrich
• Greek: υπογράμμιση (el) f (ypográmmisi)
• Irish: fostríoc f
• Japanese: アンダーバー (andābā)

• Maori: ahungarua
• Polish: podkreślenie (pl) n (line), podkreślnik m (character)
• Portuguese: underline (pt) m, sublinha (pt) f
• Russian: подчёркивание (ru) n (podčórkivanije)
• Spanish: guion bajo
• Swedish: understreck (sv) n
• Turkish: alt çizgi

background music

• Finnish: taustakappale

• Swedish: bakgrundsmusik (sv) c

Verb

underscore (third-person singular simple present underscores, present participle underscoring, simple past and past participle underscored)

1. To underline; to mark a line beneath text.
   • 2011, Matt Aimonetti, MacRuby: The Definitive Guide: Ruby and Cocoa on OS X (page 14)

     By convention, Rubyists usually underscore their method names.

2. To emphasize or draw attention to.

   I wish to underscore the importance of proper formatting.

   • 1986, Richard Bauman, Story, Performance, and Event: Contextual Studies of Oral Narrative:

     The tale thus underscores in expressive form the semiparadoxical fact that traders can lie by telling the truth.

Translations

to underline

• Czech: podtrhnout (cs)
• Finnish: alleviivata (fi)
• French: souligner (fr)
• German: unterstreichen (de)
• Greek: υπογραμμίζω (el) (ypogrammízo)
• Irish: fostríoc

• Italian: sottolineare (it)
• Portuguese: sublinhar (pt)
• Russian: подчёркивать (ru) impf (podčórkivatʹ), подчеркну́ть (ru) pf (podčerknútʹ)
• Spanish: subrayar (es)
• Swedish: stryka under

to emphasize

• Finnish: alleviivata (fi)
• French: souligner (fr)
• German: unterstreichen (de)
• Greek: υπογραμμίζω (el) (ypogrammízo)

• Russian: подчёркивать (ru) impf (podčórkivatʹ), подчеркну́ть (ru) pf (podčerknútʹ)
• Spanish: subrayar (es)
• Swedish: understryka (sv), betona (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} souligner (fr)

See also

• underbar

Typography

• ampersand ( & )
• asterisk ( * ) and asterism ( ⁂ )
• at sign ( @ )
• backslash ( \ )

• bullet ( • )
• dagger ( † ‡ )
• degree symbol ( ° )
• number sign ( # )

• prime ( ′ )
• tilde ( ~ )
• underscore ( _ )
• vertical bar/pipe ( | )