underlying

Pluralunderlyings

1. 1
   adjective

   Forming the basic or fundamental nature of something, often beneath what can be directly seen.

   Economists examined the underlying trends behind the sudden jump in prices.

   The report finally exposed the underlying weakness in the bank's accounting.

   Similarfundamental, basic, essential, intrinsic, primary

   Oppositesuperficial

   Note

   Diagnostic prose relies on this sense: the underlying problem, the disease's underlying biology. It points to what lies beneath the symptoms and explains them. Keep it apart from the "implicit" meaning. A fundamental cause may be stated outright, while an implicit meaning is one nobody says aloud. Like the literal sense, it does not compare, so "more underlying" is out.

2. 2
   adjective

   Present in or suggested by something without being openly expressed.

   An underlying assumption ran through her entire argument unspoken.

   The committee sensed an underlying disagreement that no one chose to voice.

   Similarimplicit, unspoken, latent, tacit, unexpressed

   Oppositeexplicit, overt, open

3. 3
   adjective

   Situated directly beneath or below something else.

   Geologists mapped the underlying bedrock before construction began.

   Beneath the worn carpet sat an underlying floor of old wooden boards.

   Similarlower, subjacent

   Oppositeoverlying, upper

   Note

   The physical, spatial sense, and the one the others grow from. The word is simply underlie with -ing added, so it describes a layer with something resting on top of it. Rock is its natural partner, as in the underlying rock or the underlying layers. Tennyson in 1850 still hyphenates it, writing "the under-lying dead." It takes no degrees: a thing is beneath another or it is not, so "more underlying" does not work.

4. 4
   verb

   Present participle of underlie.

   The assumptions underlying the theory have come under fresh scrutiny.

   Investigators looked for the causes underlying the sudden drop in sales.

   Note

   The verb form takes an object, and that is what separates it from the "fundamental" adjective. Compare "the assumptions underlying the theory" with "the underlying assumptions." It usually means serving as the basis of something, and it follows the noun it describes. Like lie, underlie is irregular: its past participle is underlain, never "underlied."

5. 5
   nouncountable

   In finance, the asset or instrument from whose performance a derivative contract draws its value.

   The option's value rose sharply as the underlying climbed during the morning session.

   Each futures contract settles based on the price of its underlying at expiry.

   Note

   Finance turns the adjective into a noun. Traders speak of "the underlying" for the instrument, index or asset that a contract tracks, and the plural is underlyings. It nearly always comes with the or a possessive, as in its underlying or the option's underlying. Outside finance, the bare noun sounds unfinished, and general writing keeps the adjective with a noun after it.

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