English
upward
Upward comes from Old English upweardes ‘upwards’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *upp.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*upp‘up, upwards’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150up
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150upweard‘turned upwards’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150upweardes‘upwards’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606upward
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*upp‘up, upwards’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CEsame formreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150up
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150upweard‘turned upwards’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150upweardes‘upwards’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606upward
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “From the extremest upward of thy head.”
Formed from up + -ward
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, 9 more
through Proto-Germanic *ub ‘under’
through Proto-Germanic *upp ‘up, upwards’
through Proto-West Germanic *upp
Today it means
adv In a direction from lower to higher; toward a higher place; in a course toward the source or origin.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *upp / upward