undern

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). [10^th-15^thc.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter 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

2. (obsolete) Synonym of noon: the sixth hour of daylight (12 pm). [14^th-15^thc.]
3. (Britain dialect) Synonym of afternoon. [15^thc.]
4. (Britain dialect) Synonym of evening. [15^thc.]
5. (Britain dialect) A light meal, particularly in the afternoon. [17^thc.]

References

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

Anagrams

• dunner, end run, runned

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): /ˈundern/

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.

References

• "undern" in Bosworth & Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1882), Oxford: Clarendon Press.