undergo

English

Etymology

From Middle English undergon, from Old English undergān (“to undergo, undermine, ruin”), equivalent to under- +‎ go. Cognate with Dutch ondergaan (“to undergo, perish, sink”), German untergehen (“to perish, sink, undergo”), Swedish undergå (“to undergo, go through”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndɚˈɡoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndəˈɡəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• Hyphenation: un‧der‧go

Verb

undergo (third-person singular simple present undergoes, present participle undergoing, simple past underwent, past participle undergone)

1. (transitive) To experience; to pass through a phase.

   Synonyms: go through, take, undercome

   The project is undergoing great changes.

   • 2013 January 1, Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore, “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 101, number 1, archived from the original on 5 March 2016, pages 47–48:

     Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.

2. (transitive) To suffer or endure; bear with.

   Synonyms: brook, put up with; see also Thesaurus:tolerate

   The victim underwent great trauma.

   She had to undergo surgery because of her broken leg.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To go or move under or beneath.

Translations

to experience

• Bulgarian: изпитвам (bg) (izpitvam), претърпявам (bg) (pretǎrpjavam)
• Catalan: experimentar (ca), patir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 經歷／经历 (zh) (jīnglì), 接受 (zh) (jiēshòu), 進行／进行 (zh) (jìnxíng)

• Danish: gennomgå
• Dutch: ondergaan (nl)
• Finnish: läpikäydä (fi)
• French: subir (fr)
• Galician: experimentar (gl)
• Georgian: განცდა (gancda), გადატანა (gadaṭana)
• German: durchmachen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πάσχω (páskhō)

• Hungarian: megtapasztal (hu)
• Latin: patior (la), subeō
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjennomgå

  Nynorsk: gjennomgå

• Polish: przechodzić (pl) impf, przejść (pl) pf, doświadczać (pl) impf, doświadczyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: passar por, experienciar (pt)
• Russian: проходи́ть (ru) (proxodítʹ), подверга́ться (ru) (podvergátʹsja)
• Spanish: experimentar (es), experienciar, registrar (es)
• Swedish: genomgå (sv)

to suffer or endure

• Azerbaijani: məruz qalmaq
• Bulgarian: понасям (bg) (ponasjam)
• Catalan: suportar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承受 (zh) (chénshòu), 忍受 (zh) (rěnshòu), 經受／经受 (zh) (jīngshòu), 遭受 (zh) (zāoshòu), 接受 (zh) (jiēshòu)

• Czech: podstoupit (cs)
• Danish: gennomgå
• Dutch: ondergaan (nl)
• French: subir (fr)
• Galician: sufrir (gl)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πάσχω (páskhō)

• Haitian Creole: sibi
• Hungarian: elvisel (hu)
• Ido: subisar (io)
• Italian: soffrire (it), sottoporsi (it)
• Latin: patior (la), subeo
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: undergaon

  German Low German: ündergahn, ünnergahn

• Maori: ngahi (refers to punishment)
• Mongolian: үзэх (mn) (üzex)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gjennomgå

  Nynorsk: gjennomgå

• Old English: drēogan
• Portuguese: sofrer (pt)
• Russian: испы́тывать (ru) (ispýtyvatʹ), переноси́ть (ru) (perenosítʹ)
• Spanish: sufrir (es), soportar (es), padecer (es)
• Swedish: genomgå (sv), gå igenom (sv), undergå (sv)

See also

• undergang

Anagrams

• go under, grounde, guerdon, ungored