Meaning
A performer who learns another actor's part so as to be able to substitute at short notice if the star cannot go on - and, by extension, anyone groomed or positioned to replace a more senior figure: the political understudy waiting in reserve. Wiktionary lists standby as the synonym and body double and stunt double as coordinate terms. The theatrical verb survives: to understudy a role, to understudy for someone. The figurative use implies patience and preparedness more than ambition. Compare waiting in the wings, already catalogued here, for the positional metaphor. Regional use: British and American theatre; now general English.
Origin
Pure theatre. The OED's earliest evidence for the noun is from 1882, in Society, and its entry notes the word is also recorded as a verb from the same era; Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1874 and the noun to 1882 - the two references agreeing on the noun to the year. The idea itself, a prepared substitute for the irreplaceable lead, is older than the word, but the coinage is Victorian theatrical. The figurative extension to politics and business - the deputy who shadows the leader, ready to step into the role - is natural and now routine; Richard Dawkins even used it figuratively in The Selfish Gene (1976), in a citation Wiktionary records. Wikipedia's article defines the understudy as the stage performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- standby
- understudies
- understudy a role
Usage Examples
- She joined the company as an understudy and went on for the lead on opening night when flu struck.
- Everyone knew he was the chairman's understudy, waiting years for the top job.
- The understudy had one afternoon to learn the entrances, and by curtain she owned them.