English

keep up

Keep up comes from Middle English kepen up ‘to perpetuate, maintain, preserve’.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

Earliest quotation: 1687, John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme: “Non obstante the Change of Religion, the Plough-boies, and…”

Formed from keep + up

Proto-Indo-European *ǵab-

Proto-Germanic *kōpijaną ‘to look’

Proto-West Germanic *kōpijan

Old English cēpan ‘to seize’

Middle English kepen ‘to keep’

English keep

Proto-Germanic *upp ‘up’

Proto-West Germanic *upp

Old English upp

Middle English up ‘to a vertical axis’

English up

Every English word from Middle English kepen up

verb To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.