English
upwards
Upwards comes from Old English upweard ‘turned 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
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upwardes
- Englishearliest quotation 1958upwards
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
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upwardes
- Englishearliest quotation 1958upwards
Earliest quotation: 1958, Diesel Railbus for British Railways: “The underframe also carries four bonded-rubber mountings, focused upwards…”
Formed from up + -wards
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 Towards a (higher) position closer to the sky than the ground.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *upp / upwards