underlie Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb be or form the base for
  2. verb lie underneath

WordNet

Un`der*lie" transitive verb
Etymology
AS. underlicgan. See Under, and Lie to be prostrate.
Definitions
  1. To lie under; to rest beneath; to be situated under; as, a stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.
  2. To be at the basis of; to form the foundation of; to support; as, a doctrine underlying a theory.
  3. To be subject or amenable to. R.
    The knight of Ivanhoe . . . underlies the challenge of Brian der Bois Guilbert. Sir W. Scott.
Un`der*lie" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To lie below or under.
Un"der*lie` noun
Definitions
  1. See Underlay, n., 1.

Webster 1913