underling

un·der·ling

(ŭn′dər-lĭng)

One of lesser rank or authority than another; a subordinate.

Word History: The suffix -ling, inherited from Common Germanic, already had several uses in Old English, all of which produced new nouns. It could, for example, be added to a noun to make a second noun that referred to something connected with or similar to the first noun; thus, adding this suffix to the Old English word yrth, "plowland," produced the Old English word yrthling, "plowman." The suffix could also be added to an adjective to make a noun that referred to something having the quality denoted by the adjective: from Old English dēore, "dear, beloved," was derived dēorling (Modern English darling). Adding -ling to an adverb produced a noun referring to something having the position or condition denoted by the adverb: from Old English under came underling. This last use of -ling is actually taken over from Old Norse. In Old Norse -ling was used to form diminutives; thus, our word gosling was a borrowing in Middle English of an Old Norse word, gæslingr, "gosling, a little goose."

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

underling

(ˈʌndəlɪŋ)

(Industrial Relations & HR Terms) a subordinate or lackey

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

un•der•ling

(ˈʌn dər lɪŋ)

n.

a subordinate.

[1125–75]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

underling - an assistant subject to the authority or control of another

subordinate, subsidiary, foot soldier

assistant, helper, help, supporter - a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "my invaluable assistant"; "they hired additional help to finish the work"

associate - a person with subordinate membership in a society, institution, or commercial enterprise; "associates in the law firm bill at a lower rate than do partners"

bottom dog - a person of low status

cog - a subordinate who performs an important but routine function; "he was a small cog in a large machine"

man - a male subordinate; "the chief stationed two men outside the building"; "he awaited word from his man in Havana"

second fiddle, second banana - someone who serves in a subordinate capacity or plays a secondary role

underling

noun (Derogatory) subordinate, inferior, minion, servant, slave, cohort (chiefly U.S.), retainer, menial, nonentity, lackey, hireling, flunky, understrapper underlings who do the dirty work

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

underling

noun

One belonging to a lower class or rank:

inferior, junior, secondary, subaltern, subordinate.

Translations

sous-fifre subordonné

dipendente

ondergeschikte

underling

[ˈʌndəlɪŋ] N (pej) → subordinado/a m/f, subalterno/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

underling

[ˈʌndə^rlɪŋ] n (pejorative) → sous-fifre m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

underling

n (pej) → Untergebene(r) mf, → Befehlsempfänger(in) m(f) (pej)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

underling

[ˈʌndəlɪŋ] n (pej) → galoppino, tirapiedi m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

He said "Good morning" abruptly and nodded, and then he snatched, rather than took, a newspaper from the table, and began to read it with the air of a master who seizes a pretext to escape the bore of conversing with an underling. It was well I had taken a resolution to endure for a time, or his manner would have gone far to render insupportable the disgust I had just been endeavouring to subdue.

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Higgs that Captain Osborne was waiting, in a fierce and patronizing way, as if the pekin of an attorney, who had thrice his brains, fifty times his money, and a thousand times his experience, was a wretched underling who should instantly leave all his business in life to attend on the Captain's pleasure.

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He is an underling: I have nothing to do with him; I will speak with his master.

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I remember well that, at the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or tonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp.

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About the time of which we write the pension list had just been issued, and on it Rabourdin saw the name of an underling in office rated for a larger sum than the old colonels, maimed and wounded for their country.

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I said these words did him extreme credit, but that he must not throw away the imperishable distinction of being the first man to descend an Alp per parachute, simply to save the feelings of some envious underlings. No, I said, he MUST accept the appointment--it was no longer an invitation, it was a command.

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He sought out one of the underlings with whom he had some acquaintance, and whom he found ready enough, even eager, to discuss the matter.

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As one of these wretched underlings, he did his drudgery, sometimes abroad, sometimes at home, and long endured the various miseries of such a station.

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Preoccupied as Madame Danglars had been with the object of her visit, the treatment she had received from these underlings appeared to her so insulting, that she began by complaining of it.

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All his life he had thwarted her, stolen from her, used her as one could not use even a hired hand, worked her more as a slave-driver hurries his underlings that profits may mount; now, by her mere existence, she was thwarting him.

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A very sweet reflection to poor fellows habituated to respect and obedience towards the underlings of the sergeants of the bailiff of Sainte-Geneviève, the cardinal's train-bearer.

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Heathcliff, on the second thoughts, resolved to avoid a struggle against three underlings: he seized the poker, smashed the lock from the inner door, and made his escape as they tramped in.