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Onto vs Under - What's the difference?

onto | under |

As prepositions the difference between onto and under

is that onto is upon; on top of while under is in or at a lower level than.

As adjectives the difference between onto and under

is that onto is assuming each of the values in its codomain; having its range equal to its codomain while under is being lower; being beneath something.

As an adverb under is

in a way lower or less than.

onto

English

Alternative forms

* on to

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Upon; on top of.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.}}
  • (informal) Aware of.
  • (mathematics) Being an onto function with a codomain of (see below).

    • Adjective

    (-)
  • (mathematics, of a function) Assuming each of the values in its codomain; having its range equal to its codomain.
    • Considered as a function on the real numbers, the exponential function is not onto .

    Synonyms

    * (mathematics) surjective

    See also

    * (mathematics) one-to-one, injective, bijective

    Anagrams

    *

    under

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • In or at a lower level than.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
    • The little boys in the front bedroom had thrown off their blankets and lay under the sheets.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall.  Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.
  • As a subject of; subordinate to.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 5, author=Phil McNulty, title=Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
    • , work=BBC Sport citation , passage=He was then denied by a magnificent tackle from captain Terry as Liverpool continued to press - but Chelsea survived as the memories of the nightmare under Villas-Boas faded even further into the background.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 14, author=Angelique Chrisafis
    • , title=Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism, work=Guardian citation , passage=Dati launched a blistering attack on the prime minister, François Fillon, under whom she served as justice minister, accusing him of sexism, elitism, arrogance and hindering the political advancement of ethnic minorities.}}
  • Less than.
  • Below the surface of.
  • (figuratively) In the face of; in response to (some attacking force).
  • * 2011 , Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15210221.stm]
    • England's World Cup dreams fell apart under a French onslaught on a night when their shortcomings were brutally exposed at the quarter-final stage.
  • As, in the character of.
  • * 2013 , The Huffington Post, JK Rowling Pseudonym: Robert Galbraith's 'The Cuckoo's Calling' Is Actually By Harry Potter Author [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/13/jk-rowling-pseudonym-robert-galbraith_n_3592769.html]
    • J.K. Rowling has written a crime novel called 'The Cuckoo's Calling' under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

    Synonyms

    * below * beneath * underneath

    Antonyms

    * above * over

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a way lower or less than.
  • * (rfexample)
  • In a way inferior to.
  • * (rfexample)
  • In an unconscious state.
    • It took the hypnotist several minutes to make his subject go under .

    Synonyms

    * below * beneath

    Antonyms

    * above * over

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Being lower; being beneath something.
  • * Bible, 1 Corinthians ix. 27
    • I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.
  • * Moore
    • The minstrel fell, but the foeman's chain / Could not bring his proud soul under .
  • *
  • *
  • *

    • Derived terms

    * down under * six feet under * underachieve * underage * underarm * undercurrent * undercut * underground * underhanded * underneath * underrate * underreport * under the weather * undertow * underwater * underworld : See also:

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * English prepositions 1000 English basic words ----