An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/unten

by Friedrich Kluge

unten, adverb, ‘below, beneath, underneath,’ from the equivalent Middle High German unden, Old High German untanân. Allied to unter, preposition and adverb, ‘below, under,’ from Middle High German and Old High German unter, under, Old Low German untar (preposition); but untari, adverb; corresponding to Gothic and Old Saxon undar, Dutch onder, Anglo-Saxon and English under. The Aryan preposition ndhér, on which these are based, appears also in Latin infra (compare inferior) and Sanscrit adhás, ‘beneath’ (adhara, ‘the lower’).