Etymograph

English

upper

Upper comes from Middle English upper, from up + the comparative suffix -er, from Old English upp ‘up’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*upp‘up, upwards’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150upp‘up’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500up‘up’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500upper
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1895same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*upp‘up, upwards’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150upp‘up’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500up‘up’
  5. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500upper
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1895same form

Earliest quotation: 1895, Edward Parry Eardley-Wilmot, E. C. Streatfield: “Each Upper had his private Fag; but general fagdom…”

Equivalent to up + -er

Proto-Germanic *upp ‘up’

Proto-West Germanic *upp

Old English upp

Middle English up ‘to a vertical axis’

English up

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up’

suggest, sub, sum, suspicion, hypo, subaltern, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *ub ‘under’

above, oft

through Proto-Germanic *upp ‘up, upwards’

opening, upwards, ope, 2 more

through Proto-West Germanic *upp

upward, 1 more

through Middle English up ‘to a vertical axis’

up

Today it means

adj At a higher physical position, level, rank or order.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *upp / upper

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