Verb

untermauern

Translation

to underpin, to substantiate, to support with evidence

Er untermauerte seine These mit Fakten.

He substantiated his thesis with facts.

Das alte Haus muss untermauert werden.

The old house must be underpinned.

((sth.)) to underpin sth. The old house must be underpinned.

((sth.)) ((with sth.)) to substantiate sth. with sth. He substantiated his thesis with facts.

Synonyms: to justify (begründen), to prove (belegen), to support (stützen); Antonyms: to refute (widerlegen)

Composed of 'unter-' (under) and 'mauern' (to wall), from 'Mauer' (wall). The literal meaning is 'to build a wall underneath'.

Visualize constructing a wall ('Mauer') 'under' ('unter') something to hold it up. This applies to both physical structures and abstract arguments.