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nether

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An archaic adjective meaning lower, beneath, or situated underneath; often evokes the underworld ("nether regions") in epic verse.

Detailed Definition
The poem places the sea in a “nether sky,” making the distant waves seem suspended below the riders. The elevated, unusual wording helps create the poem’s dreamlike perspective from the cliff.
Example
Example in poetry:
In a “nether sky,” nether means lower, beneath, or underworld-like; “In a nether sky, engrossed in saying their ceaseless babbling say” makes the lower air ominous; Milton’s Paradise Lost often distinguishes heavenly heights from infernal depths; “Nether streets beneath the bridge” gives a modern city poem a dark, subterranean register
Additional Notes
“Nether” is a literary and somewhat archaic word for lower or beneath, as its quoted use for the sky indicates.; Found in the poem, Beeny Cliff by Thomas Hardy
Also Known As
lower beneath under
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