netherness

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English nethernesse, from Old English niþernes (“deepness, the bottom, lowness, a low position”), from Proto-West Germanic *niþernassī, equivalent to nether +‎ -ness. Cognate with Old High German nidarnassi, nidarnessi (“damnation”). === Noun === netherness (uncountable) The state or quality of being nether or beneath; lowness; inferiority. Deepness; depth; abyss. ==== Related terms ==== netherdom