underscore

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi

?

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí

Proto-Indo-European *-ér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér

Proto-Germanic *under

Proto-West Germanic *undar

Old English under

Middle English under

English under

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-

Proto-Germanic *skurō

Old Norse skorder.

Old English scoru

Middle English score

English score

English underscore

From under + score.

Pronunciation 1

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʌn.dəˌskɔː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʌn.dəɹˌskoɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌndə(ɹ)skɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: un‧der‧score

Noun

underscore (plural underscores)

1. (typography) A line drawn under a segment of text, especially to add emphasis.

   Synonyms: low line, underline

   • 2007, Richard D. Ondo, “Used Cars in West Virginia”, in A Third Cell in America: A Novel, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 15:

     He walks into the house and picks up a pen. The thought he has is a brilliant idea. He must write it down. Only two words need to be written. The underscore adds importance. / BOUNTY HUNTER

2. (typography) The typographic mark or punctuation symbol ⟨ _ ⟩, used to indicate word boundaries in situations where spaces are not allowed.

   Synonyms: low line, underline

3. (music) A piece of background music.

Descendants

• → French: underscore
• → Dutch: underscore
• → Indonesian: underscore
• → Portuguese: underscore
• → Japanese: アンダースコア (andāsukoa)

Translations

line underneath text — see also underline

• Belarusian: падкрэ́сліванне n (padkréslivannje)
• Bulgarian: подчерта́ване (bg) n (podčertávane)
• Danish: bundstreg c
• Esperanto: substreko
• Georgian: ქვეტირე (kveṭire)
• German: Unterstreichung f
• Greek: υπογράμμιση (el) f (ypográmmisi)
• Hungarian: aláhúzás (hu)
• Icelandic: undirstrik n
• Irish: fostríoc f
• Italian: trattino basso m
• Korean: 밑줄 문자 (mitjul munja)
• Macedonian: до́лна цр́та f (dólna cŕta), подвлеку́вање n (podvlekúvanje)
• Māori: ahungarua
• Polish: podkreślenie (pl) n, podkreślnik (pl) m inan, podłoga (pl) f
• Portuguese: sublinha (pt) f
• Russian: подчёркивание (ru) n (podčórkivanije)
• Slovak: podčiarkovník m, podčiarknutie n, podjebník m
• Slovene: podčrtaj m
• Swedish: understreck (sv) n
• Tamil: அடிக்கோடு (aṭikkōṭu), அடிக்கீறு (aṭikkīṟu)
• Turkish: alt çizgi, alt tire
• Ukrainian: підкре́слення (uk) n (pidkréslennja)

typographic mark

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 下劃線 / 下划线 (zh) (xiàhuáxiàn)

• Catalan: guió baix m
• Czech: podtržítko n
• Finnish: alaviiva (fi)
• Galician: subliñado (gl)
• Dutch: underscore (nl) c
• French: tiret bas (fr) m, souligné (fr) m, caractère de soulignement (fr) m, blanc souligné (fr) m, sous-tiret (fr) m, tiret du 8 (fr) m, underscore (fr) m
• German: Unterstrich m, Grundstrich m
• Hungarian: aláhúzásjel
• Indonesian: garis bawah (id), underscore (id)
• Japanese: 下線 (ja) (kasen), アンダースコア (andāsukoa), アンダーバー (ja) (andābā), アンダーライン (ja) (andārain)
• Korean: 언더바 (eondeoba)
• Māori: tāraro
• Polish: podkreślenie (pl) n, podkreślnik (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: underscore (pt) m, underline (pt) m
• Russian: подчёркивание (ru) n (podčórkivanije)
• Spanish: guion bajo m, barra baja f, subraya f
• Swedish: understreck (sv) n

background music

• Finnish: taustakappale
• Hungarian: háttérzene (hu)
• Italian: sottofondo musicale m
• Polish: muzak (pl) m inan
• Swedish: bakgrundsmusik (sv) c
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can

Pronunciation 2

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌn.dəˈskɔː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌn.dəɹˈskoɹ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: un‧der‧score

Verb

underscore (third-person singular simple present underscores, present participle underscoring, simple past and past participle underscored)

1. (transitive) To draw a line beneath a segment of text.

   Synonym: underline

   • 2011, Matt Aimonetti, MacRuby: The Definitive Guide: Ruby and Cocoa on OS X, page 14:

     By convention, Rubyists usually underscore their method names.

2. (transitive) To emphasize or draw attention to.

   I wish to underscore the importance of proper formatting.

   • 1986, Richard Bauman, Story, Performance, and Event: Contextual Studies of Oral Narrative:

     The tale thus underscores in expressive form the semiparadoxical fact that traders can lie by telling the truth.

   • 2017 June 30, Ruth La Ferla, “In ‘The Beguiled,’ Pretty Confections Whipped Up to Seduce”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 October 2018:

     Not trusting filmgoers to catch the drift, Ms. Coppola underscores the women’s attempts to gussy up with snippets of arch dialogue.

   • 2023 October 31, Stephen Collinson, “A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world”, in CNN‎^[2], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 12 August 2024:

     Biden on Monday unveiled new measures to tackle antisemitism on college campuses and senior officials underscored the need to combat anti-Jewish hate.

Derived terms

• underscorer

Translations

to underline — see also underline

• Bulgarian: подчертавам (bg) (podčertavam)
• Czech: podtrhnout (cs)
• Esperanto: substreki
• Finnish: alleviivata (fi)
• French: souligner (fr)
• German: unterstreichen (de)
• Greek: υπογραμμίζω (el) (ypogrammízo)
• Hungarian: aláhúz (hu)
• Irish: fostríoc, folínigh, líne a chur faoi, stríoc a chur faoi
• Italian: sottolineare (it)
• Macedonian: по́двлече (pódvleče)
• Polish: podkreślać (pl) impf, podkreślić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: sublinhar (pt)
• Russian: подчёркивать (ru) impf (podčórkivatʹ), подчеркну́ть (ru) pf (podčerknútʹ)
• Swedish: stryka under (sv)
• Tamil: அடிக்கோடிடு (aṭikkōṭiṭu)

to emphasize — see also underline,‎ emphasize,‎ highlight,‎ drive home

• Bulgarian: наблягам (bg) (nabljagam)
• Czech: podtrhnout (cs) pf
• Finnish: alleviivata (fi)
• French: souligner (fr)
• German: unterstreichen (de)
• Greek: υπογραμμίζω (el) (ypogrammízo)
• Hungarian: hangsúlyoz (hu), nyomatékosít (hu), kiemel (hu), felhívja a figyelmet (hu)
• Irish: béim a chur ar, béim a leagan ar
• Italian: evidenziare (it), enfatizzare (it)
• Macedonian: и́стакне (ístakne)
• Polish: podkreślać (pl) impf, podkreślić (pl) pf
• Russian: подчёркивать (ru) impf (podčórkivatʹ), подчеркну́ть (ru) pf (podčerknútʹ)
• Swedish: understryka (sv), betona (sv)
• Tamil: அடிக்கோடிடு (aṭikkōṭiṭu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} souligner (fr)

See also

• underbar
• undertie

• ampersand ( & )
• asterisk ( * ) and asterism ( ⁂ )
• at sign ( @ )
• backslash ( \ )
• bullet ( • )
• dagger ( † ‡ )
• degree symbol ( ° )
• number sign ( # )
• prime ( ′ )
• tilde ( ~ )
• underscore ( _ )
• vertical bar/pipe ( | )

Further reading

• “underscore”, in Merriam-Webster Online, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1996–present.
• “underscore, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “underscore, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “underscore”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi

?

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí

Proto-Indo-European *-ér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér

Proto-Germanic *under

Proto-West Germanic *undar

Old English under

Middle English under

English under

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-

Proto-Germanic *skurō

Old Norse skorder.

Old English scoru

Middle English score

English score

English underscoreubor.

Portuguese underscore

Unadapted borrowing from English underscore.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deʁsˈkɔʁ/ [ˌɐ̃.dehsˈkɔh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deʁsˈkɔʁ/ [ˌɐ̃.dehsˈkɔh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deɾsˈkɔɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deʁʃˈkɔʁ/ [ˌɐ̃.deχʃˈkɔχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deɻsˈkɔɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deɾʃˈkɔɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deɾʃˈkɔɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˌɐ̃.deɾʃˈkɔ.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: un‧der‧score

Noun

underscore m (plural underscores)

1. (typography) underscore (typographic mark)

   Synonyms: underline, sublinha, sublinhado, subtraço, traço inferior

Further reading

• “underscore”, in Dicionário Eletrônico Houaiss [Houaiss Electronic Dictionary] (in Portuguese), São Paulo: UOL, 2004–present
• “underscore”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “underscore”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026