# below
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- +‎ low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /bɪˈləʊ/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* (US) IPA: /bɪˈloʊ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: be‧low
* Rhymes: -əʊ

### Preposition

below
* Lower in spatial position than.
** 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.
    The treasure is buried two meters below the surface.
    The marmalade is on the shelf below the bread.
* Lower than in value, price, rank, concentration, etc.
** 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:one degree below kings
** 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.
    The temperature is below zero.
    Liverpool are below Manchester City in the Premier League.
* Downstream of.
    The River Thames is tidal below Teddington Lock.
* South of.
    Sudan is below Egypt.
* Unsuitable to the rank or dignity of; beneath.
** 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:They beheld, with a just loathing and disdain, […] how below all history the persons and their actions were.
** 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:who thinks no fact below his regard
    Such petty behavior is below me.
* (stage directions) Downstage of.
** 1952, Frederick Knott, Dial "M" for Murder, 1954 Dramatists Play Service acting edition, act 1, scene 1:
    Below the sofa is a low, round coffee table.

#### Synonyms

* (lower in spatial position than): beneath, under, underneath
* (lower in value than): under
* (downstream of): downstream
* (unsuitable to the rank or dignity of): beneath

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “lower in spatial position than”): above, over
* (antonym(s) of “lower in value than”): above, over
* (antonym(s) of “downstream of”): upstream

#### Derived terms

* below the belt
* below the law

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Adverb

below (not comparable)
* In or to a lower place.
    The town is situated on a hillside, with a river running below.
    He was pulled below by a sea monster.
** 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. […] The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, […].
** On or to a lower storey.
    She lives below, on the ground floor.
** (nautical) On or to a lower deck, especially as relative to the main deck.
    The captain went below to inspect the engine.
    the landlubbers lying down below
* Later in the same text.
    This point is explained below.
    By their execution hereof, the Parties incur a legal obligation to pass consideration under this Loan Contract as is set forth below.
* (of a temperature) Below zero.
    It was forty degrees below.

#### Synonyms

* (in a lower place): beneath, under, underneath
* (on a lower storey): downstairs
* (farther down): downwards

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “in a lower place”): aloft, overhead, up
* (antonym(s) of “on a lower storey”): upstairs
* (antonym(s) of “farther down”): upwards

#### Derived terms

* below average
* below decks, belowdecks
* below ground
* belowground
* belowness
* below par
* below-stairs
* below stairs
* belowstairs
* below the belt
* below the breadline
* below the fold
* below the gangway
* below the line
* below the radar
* below the salt
* below the surface
* come from below
* cut below
* down below
* fall below
* go below
* here below
* hereinbelow
* hit below one's weight
* keep one's head below the parapet
* macron below
* punch below one's weight
* scratch below the surface
* send below
* Tribeca

#### Translations
### References

* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

### Anagrams

* Blowe, Lebow, blowe, bowel, bowle, elbow