Underwater

Underwater

Adjective / Adverb · /ˌʌndəˈwɔːtə/ · below the surface of water; in financial difficulty

Definition

Underwater describes something situated, operating, or occurring below the surface of a body of water. A diver works underwater. An underwater camera captures images beneath the waves. In finance, a loan or mortgage is said to be underwater when the amount owed exceeds the current value of the asset — the borrower owes more than what they own. This metaphorical extension, from the literal world of depth and submersion, has become one of the most vivid and widely used financial metaphors in modern English.

Origin

Formed from under, from Old English under, meaning beneath or below, combined with water, from Old English wæter. The compound underwater appeared in English by the early seventeenth century in literal nautical contexts. The financial metaphor — a mortgage being underwater — emerged in American English in the 1980s and became widespread after the 2008 financial crisis, when millions of homeowners found themselves owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth.