To undergo something means to experience it, especially when it is difficult, painful, or involves a process of change. People often undergo operations, tests, or training.
From "under" plus "go," originally meaning to go under or pass through something. It shifted from a physical image to a more abstract sense of experiencing.
The word pictures you as literally going under a wave of experience and coming out the other side. That’s why we rarely say we "undergo" a party—but we do "undergo" surgery or hardship.
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