Underlie

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun ·see Underlay, ·noun, 1.

II. Underlie ·vi To lie below or under.

III. Underlie ·vt To be subject or amenable to.

IV. Underlie ·vt To lie under; to rest beneath; to be situated under; as, a stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.

V. Underlie ·vt To be at the basis of; to form the foundation of; to Support; as, a doctrine underlying a theory.