Underpricing

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Charging an amount less than the typical or fair market price for goods, services, or securities
2. Assigning a cost to an item or asset that is intentionally lower than its prevailing market value
3. Offering products or shares at a price below what is standard or expected in the market

Etymology: "Underpricing" is the present participle and gerund of "underprice," which is formed from the prefix "under-" and the word "price." The pairing is straightforward: "under-" in this sense means below or too little, so to underprice something is to set its price lower than it should be. "Price" itself arrived in English from Old French "pris," which came from Latin "pretium," meaning value, worth, or reward. The combination follows a pattern English has used for centuries, in which "under-" attaches to verbs to mean doing something insufficiently, as with "undervalue" or "underestimate." The compound makes the sense of the prefix clear: the price falls beneath the true worth. Its meaning is therefore literal and transparent, with no shift from an earlier sense.

Synonyms: undervaluing, discounting, devaluing

Antonyms: overpricing, valuing, appraising