Does anyone know what "underling" means?

Question

I posed a question before in which I said something to the effect of my boss treated me like an underling and I needed a tactful way to deal with it. Some answers were helpful while others were ridiculous. I kept hearing the same answer..."you are an underling", and well, I don't think those people know what it means.
un·der·ling /ˈʌndərlɪŋ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[uhn-der-ling] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun a subordinate, esp. one of slight importance.


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[Origin: 1125–75; ME. See under-, -ling1]


—Synonyms menial, flunky, lackey, hireling.
So...I have to disagree that I AM an underling, subordinate, yes, of slight importance, no. Does anyone disagree?

Answer 1

underling

SYLLABICATION: un·der·ling
PRONUNCIATION: ndr-lng
NOUN: One of lesser rank or authority than another; a subordinate.
WORD HISTORY: Learning the meanings of affixes is a common approach to building vocabulary, but studying a group of words that share an affix can be fascinating in its own right. The suffix –ling, inherited from Common Germanic, already had several uses in Old English, all of which produced new nouns. It could, for example, be added to a noun to make a second noun that referred to something connected with or similar to the first noun; thus, adding this suffix to the Old English word yrth, “ploughland,” produced the Old English word yrthling, “plowman.” The suffix could also be added to an adjective to make a noun that referred to something having the quality denoted by the adjective: from Old English dore, “dear, beloved,” was derived dorling (Modern English darling). Adding –ling to an adverb produced a noun referring to something having the position or condition denoted by the adverb: from Old English under came underling. This last use of –ling is actually taken over from Old Norse. In Old Norse –ling was used to form diminutives; thus, our word gosling was a borrowing in Middle English of an Old Norse word, gæslingr, “gosling, a little goose.”

Answer 2

You are an underling and you are of small importance to the company.

It is tough-being of small importance.
You need to find self-worth in other ways---in the overall scheme of things.


I go through this at work all of the time. My boss makes me call him Mr. Smith. When I asked him to call me Ms. Sullivan he refused --because he is the boss and that is the way he maintains his distance from mere employees like me. So he calls me Mandy.

It pisses me off everyday.

And someday I will find a new job. But until then I just have to swallow it.

And so do you-- if you want to keep your job.

Answer 3

It is an insulting term for an employee. The synonyms you found flunky, lackey, hireling are accurate and nobody would refer to themselves as an underling.
-MM

Answer 4

underling can be used as the meaning for one who is under the orders of another

Answer 5

sadly-you are an underling unless you are the boss.

or
unless you are the "talent" as in an extremely talented computer programmer or gifted mathematician.

Its tough being an underling, but that is -in fact-what most of us are.

You are not alone.

Answer 6

better an underling than a dogsbody!

Answer 7

small stature