undersleep 
undersleep (un-der-slep'), c. i. To sleep loss 
than is ueressary. [Rare.] 
Home men undenln/i, .ml m>mc oversleep. 
//. ir. lli'frhfr, Yale Lectures on Preaching. 
undersleeve (unMer-slev), . A sleeve woni 
under another; specifically, a separate sleeve 
of thin cambric or lace worn under the sleeve 
of a woman's j;own. 
undersoil (un'der-soil), n. Soil beneath the 
siirl'at'e ; sulisoil. 
undersong (mi'der-song), n. 1. The burden or 
accompaniment of a song; a refrain. 
Weepe, Shepheard ! weepe, to make my undenting, 
Spenser, Daphnaida. 
2. A subordinate strain; an underlying mean- 
ing, hnidoi'. 
under-sparred (un'der-spard), a. Not liaving 
suilicieiit spars; undermasted: said of a vessel. 
underspend! fun-der-spend'), v. t. To spend 
less than. Fuller, Worthies, Lincoln, ii. 23. 
(Daries.) 
undersphere (un'der-sfer), n. A lower or in- 
ferior sphere. Elegy on Dr. Donne (1635). 
undersporet, See undershore. 
Get me a staf that 1 may underspore {read undershore ?]. 
Chaucer, MiUer'i Tale, 1. 279. 
underspread (un-der-spred'), a. Spread under 
or beneath. 
Every morn I lift my head, 
Gaze o'er New England underspread. 
Emerson, Monadnoc. 
understairt (un-der-star'), a. Pertaining or 
relating to a lower floor; down-stairs; hence, 
humble; low; mean; backstairs. 
Living In some wnder-rtair office, when he [vainglorious 
man) would visit the country, he borrows some gallant's 
cast suit of his servant, and therein, player-like, acts that 
part among his besotted neighbours. 
A'.T. T. Adamt, Works, I. 600. 
understand (uu-der-staud'), ?. ; pret. and pp. 
understood, ppr. understanding. [< ME. un- 
derstanden, understonden, onderstanden, onder- 
stonden (pret. nnderstod, pp. understanden, un- 
derstonden, also understande, understonde, and 
with weak ending understanded), < AS. under- 
standan, understondan (= OFries. understonda = 
OHG. understantan = Icel. nndirstanda, under- 
stand (cf. D. onderstaen, stand under, under- 
take), = MHG. unterstan, G. unterstehen = Dan. 
understaa, undertake, venture, intervene, hin- 
der, resist), < under, under, + standan, stand: 
see under- and stand.] I. trans. 1. To receive 
from a word or collocation of words or from a 
sign the idea it is intended to convey : with the 
thing said, the person speaking, or the language 
as the direct object of the verb. 
Speketh so pleyn at this tynie, I yow preye, 
That we may understand* what ye seye. 
Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, Prol., 1. 20. 
Speak pardon, as 'tis current In our land, 
The chopping French we do not itndfrttand. 
Shot., Rich. II., v. 8. 
You shew your English Breeding now ; an English Rl- 
ral is so dull and brutish as not to understand Raillery. 
Wycherley, Gentleman Dancing-Muter, v. 1. 
2. To interpret the signification of; seize the 
idea of; comprehend as resulting from a 
thought, principle, or rule; explain. 
I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a 
dream to interpret it. Gen. xli. 15. 
Can any understand the spreading of the clouds or the 
noise of his tabernacle? Job xxxvi. 29. 
3. To receive information about ; learn by pay- 
ing heed to what is said and done ; consider. 
Zee schulle undirttonde that, aftre the opynyoun of olde 
wise Philosophres and Astronomeres, oure Contree ne 
Irelond ne Wales ne Scotlond ne Norweye ne the other 
Yles costynge to hem ne ben not In the superAcyalte 
cownted aboven the Erthe. Mandevillt, Travels, p. 186. 
I haue fnderstande, And by neighbours knowe, 
That largely ye haue children good and fin. 
Rom. of Partenay (E. E. T. &.\ 1. 72. 
The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge. 
Isa. xxxii. 4. 
I hope to hear from you soon, for I long to understand 
how you fare. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 416. 
Understand the matter, and consider the vision. 
Dan. Ix. 23. 
4. To know in substance, as a fact or saying; 
be acquainted with ; recognize. 
This knowen, that his hestes underttondeth, 
How that ihe second heate of God is that. 
Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale. 
What knoweth thou that we know not? what under- 
standeth thou which is not in us? Job xv. 9. 
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he 
make to understand doctrine? Isa. xxviii. !). 
5. To take as meant or implied; imply; infer; 
assume ; take for granted : chiefly in the past 
participle. 
6599 
War, 
Open or underload, must be resolved. 
Milton, V. I., 1. 062. 
6. To recognize as implied or meant, although 
not expressed ; supply mentally, as a word ne- 
'. -ary to bring out the sense of an author: as, 
in the phrase 'All are mortal,' we must under- 
stand tne word men, liring beings, or the like. 
If you say to your grandmother "Ma'am, it's a fine 
day," or what not, she would find In the words no other 
meaning than their outward and visible one ; but say so 
to the girl you love, and she understands a thousand mys- 
tic meanings in them. 
Thackeray, Fit*. Boodle's Confessions, Dorothea. 
7. To stand under. [A punning use.] 
My legs do better understand me, sir, than I understand 
what you mean. Shot , T. N., 111. 1. 89. 
To give to understand, to let understand, to make 
understand, to tell ; Inform ; let know. 
To make you understand this in a manifested effect. 
Shot., M. for M Iv. 169. 
To have to understand', to learn ; be Informed. Shak., 
3 Hen. VI., Iv. 4. 10. To understand trap. See trap). 
II. intrant. 1. To have the use of the in- 
tellectual faculties; be an intelligent and con- 
scious being; have understanding; be wise. 
What a fry of fools Is here? I see 'tis treason to under- 
stand in this house. Shirley and Fletcher, Coronation, 1. 1. 
|The| man that Is In honour, and understandeth not. Is 
like the beast* that perish. Pi. xllx. 20. 
2. To be informed by another; learn. 
I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that 
Eliasbib did. Ken. xliL 7. 
3f. To give attention; listen. 
Vndirstonde to me, kyuge fflualls, and here the be-tok- 
enynge of thyn a-vislon. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), III. 633. 
understandable (un-der-stan'da-bl), a. [< un- 
derstand + -able.] That can be understood; 
capable of being understood ; comprehensible ; 
intelligible. 
To be understandable Is a condition requisite to a judge. 
ChUKnyuvrth, A Safe Way to Salvation. 
understander (un-der-stan'der), . [< under- 
stand + -fr 1 .] One who understands or knows. 
He [the critic of Homer] should rather (with his much 
better underttautler Spondanus) submit where he oversees 
him faulty. Chapman, Iliad, i., Com. 
understanding (un-der-stan'ding), . [< ME. 
understanding, understondijnge, onderstondinge, 
etc.; verbal n. of understand, v.] 1. The act of 
one who understands or comprehends; com- 
prehension ; apprehension and appreciation ; 
discernment. 
The children of Issachar, which were men that had n- 
derstandiny of the times. 1 Chron. xii. 32. 
A chaplain came up to him [Captain Whitock], to whom 
he delivered an account of his understanding, and, I hope, 
of his belief, and soon after died ; and my lord hath burled 
him with his own ancestors. Donne, Letters, xx. 
2. The knowing power, in general; intelligence; 
wit. The old psychologists divided the faculties of the 
mind into undcrstantting, or cognitive power, and iriU. 
Vnderstondijmje, yn wytte. Intelligent'!:!, Intellectus. 
Prompt. Pare., p. 611. 
The spirit of wisdom and undentandiny, the spirit of 
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear 
of the Lord. Isa. xi. 2. 
The power of perception is that which we call the un- 
derstanding. Perception, which we make the act of the 
underslandin/f. Is of three sorts: 1. The perception of 
ideas in our mind. 2. The perception of the signification 
of signs. 3. The perception of the connection or repug- 
nancy, agreement or disagreement, that there in between 
any of our ideas. All these are attributed to the under- 
standing, or perceptive power, though It be the two latter 
only that use allows us to say we understand. 
Locke, Human Understanding, II. xxl. i 5. 
A spirit is one simple undivided active being : as it per- 
ceives Ideas, it is called the understanding, as it produces 
or otherwise operates about them, it is called the will. 
Berkeley, Human Knowledge, i. i 27. 
3. The representative faculty; the power of 
abstract thought ; the logical power. Kantian 
writers restrict understanding to the operation of abstrac- 
tive thought concerning objects of possible experience. 
And thus we discover a power we have of heightening 
the colour of our Ideas, of changing or directing their 
course by the application of our notice: and the exercise 
of this power I take to be what is commonly meant by an 
act of the understanding. 
A. Tucker, Light of Nature, xii. 1 1. 
As all acts of the understanding can be reduced to judg- 
ments, the understanding may be defined as the faculty of 
judging. For we saw before that the understanding is the 
faculty of thinking, and thinking is knowledge by means 
of concepts. 
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (tr. by MullerX II. 61. 
4. Intelligence between two or more persons; 
agreement of minds; harmony; union of senti- 
ment ; also, something mutually understood or 
agreed upon: as, there was an understanding 
between them. 
I love to promote among my Clients a good t'tulfrxtand- 
I'll./. Steele. Tender Husband, v. 1. 
undertake 
Their once flaming regard Is sobered by time In either 
breast, and, lofting in violence what it gains in extent, it 
becomes a thorough good understanding. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 160. 
Hen of Understanding, a sect which i!..m 1-1,. <i in the 
Low Countries about 1411, professing il.-.-ii in- * -imiljir to 
those of the Brethren of the Holy .-spirit. It maintained 
that the then present reign <>f the Holy Spirit afforded a 
higher Illumination and authority than that of the Hcrip- 
ture; that the only resum-clion <>f tlif )><M!V >-M r to take 
place had already taken place In rhrini ; ami Unit tin- 
spirit Is not denied by bodily sin. Predicates of the 
pure understanding. See yredicaUe. 
Understanding (un-di'-r-slaii'ilint: , /'.. Know- 
ing; skilful; intelligent; possessed of or ex- 
hibiting good sense. 
Was this taken 
By any understanding pate but thine? 
Shalt., W. T., I. 2. 22S. 
Monsieur d'Axout was very Curious and Understanding 
In Architecture, for which purpose he was 17 years In Italy 
by times. Lister, Journey to i'aris, p. 99. 
understandingly (nn-der-stan'diug-li), adr. Iii 
an understanding manner; intelligently; with 
full knowledge or comprehension. 
Your grace shall find him. in your further conference. 
grave, wise, courtly, and scholar like, iim/frrtoiu/iiiiXi/ read 
In the necessities of the life of man. 
Beau, and Fl., Woman-Hater, II. 1. 
understandingnesst, [ME. undemtondimj- 
nrsse; < understanding + -liens.] The faculty 
of understanding. 
Understate (un-der-staf), P. I. trans. To state 
or represent less strongly than the truth will 
admit; state too low: as, to understate an evil. 
Rather understated for so high an honour. 
Fuller, Worthies, Bedfordshire. 
II. intrant. To say less than the full truth. 
understatement (un-der-stat'ment), . 1. The 
act of understating. Quarterly Her., CXXVI. 
378. 2. That which is understated; a state- 
ment of less than the full truth. 
understock (un-der-stok'), c. t. To supply in- 
sufficiently with stock; put too small a stock 
in or on: said generally of a farm. Adam 
Smith. 
understood (un-der-stud'). 1. Preterit and 
past participle of understand. 2. As a par- 
ticipial adjective: () Comprehended; appre- 
hended, (b) Implied; assumed. 
understrapper (uu'der-strap'er). M. A petty 
fellow; an inferior agent; an underling. 
This was going to the fountain head at once, not apply- 
ing to the understrappers. 
Goldmith, Good-natured Man, II. 
understrapping (un'der-strap'ing), a. Subor- 
dinate; suoservient. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, 
VI. xviii. 
understratum (un'der-stra*tum),M.; pi. under- 
strata (-ta). A substratum ; an underlying stra- 
tnm; the stratum lying immediately beneath, 
or forming the lower portion of the one desig- 
nated : not often used except figuratively. 
There is a vast and virtuous understratum In society, 
which really loves the right and hates the wrong. 
Nineteenth Century, XX. 421. 
understroke (un-der-strok'), v. t. To underline; 
underscore. 
You have understroked that offensive word, to show 
that It Is to be printed in italic. 
Ku-ijl. To the Duchess of (jueensbury, March 20, 1762. 
understudy (un'der-stud"i), n. Theat., one who 
has made a special study of a particular part, 
and is capable of playing that part at a mo- 
ment's notice in the absence of the actor or 
actress to whom it is usually assigned. 
understudy (un'der-stud'i), r. t.; pret. and pp. 
understudied, ppr. understudying. [< under- 
study, n.] To memorize (a part) as an under- 
study. 
She 's In the chorus now, hut shell get her chance some 
day ; . . . she 's understudied ever so many parts. 
The Atlantic, LXVII. 260. 
under-SUlt (un'der-xut), n. A suit worn under 
or beneath another suit. [Rare.] 
His own under-suit was so well lined. 
Fuller, Worthies, Hants. 
undersward (un'der-sward), ii. A sward or turf 
shaded by trees or other plants of some size. 
undertakable (un-der-ta'ka-bl), a. [< under- 
take + -able.] Capable of being undertaken. 
Cliilliiifiirorth. 
undertake (un-der-tak'), r.; pret. undertook, 
pp. undertaken, ppr. undertaking. [< ME. ii- 
dertaken (pret. undertok, pp. mult rtal.i n. under- 
take); < under + take.] I. trans. 1. To take 
on one's self; often, to take formally or ex- 
pressly on one's self; lay one's self under ob- 
ligations or enter into stipulations to perform 
or execute : pledge one's self to. 
