underling

un·der·ling  (ndr-lng)

n.

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

Word History: Learning the meanings of affixes is a common approach to building vocabulary, but studying a group of words that share an affix can be fascinating in its own right. 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, "ploughland," 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 dore, "dear, beloved," was derived dorling (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."

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underling [ˈʌndəlɪŋ]

n

(Business / Industrial Relations & HR Terms) a subordinate or lackey

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

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

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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

Translations

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

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

underling

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

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

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