onder de rivieren
Dutch
Etymology
Literally, “below the rivers”, that is the Rhine and Meuse and their distributaries, which as part of the Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt delta form a natural border between two larger religiocultural regions of the Low Countries (with the Rivierengebied forming a transitional region).
Prepositional phrase
- (idiomatic) in the southern Netherlands or southern Low Countries in general; to the south of the Rhine and Meuse and their distributaries, which separate the Catholic southern provinces from the northern, largely Protestant parts of the Low Countries
- Synonyms: beneden de rivieren, onder de Moerdijk, beneden de Moerdijk
- Antonyms: boven de rivieren, boven de Moerdijk