Underwent

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˌʌn.dəˈwɛnt/

Definitions

1. To have passed through a particular experience or transformation
2. To have endured a specific process or change in state
3. To have gone through a particular procedure or alteration

Etymology: "Underwent" is the past tense of "undergo", and the verb it comes from is older than most of its modern senses. Old English "undergān" meant "to undergo, undermine, ruin", so the verb carried a sense of damage and downfall alongside the neutral idea of passing through something. Its parts are plain: "under-" plus "go", meaning to go beneath or to be subjected to something. The verb reached Middle English as "undergon" and kept that sense of enduring what lies on top of you. Related forms in other Germanic languages show the same pattern. Dutch "ondergaan" can mean "to perish" or "to sink", and German "untergehen" also means "to perish, sink", so the idea of going down under something runs through the family. English "undergo" kept the enduring sense, while the sinking and ruin meanings faded from common use.

Synonyms: experienced, endured, suffered, went through, faced