English
Alternative forms
Etymology
FromMiddle Englishupon,uppon,uppen, fromOld Englishupon,uppon,uppan(“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent toup(“adverb”) +on(“preposition”). Cognate withOld Saxonuppan(“upon”),Old High Germanūfan,ūffan(“upon”),Icelandicuppá,upp á(“up on, upon”),Swedishuppå(“up on, upon”) (thenceSwedishpå),Danishpå(“up on, upon”),Norwegianpå(“up on, upon”).
Pronunciation
Preposition
upon
- A higher-register or more formal alternative toon in most, though not all, prepositional uses.
A vase of flowers stoodupon the table. — The painting hangsupon the wall. — All of the responsibility isupon him. — She playsupon a violin (or piano). — The lighthouse that you can see isupon the mainland. — He restedupon his elbows. — Tugupon the rope;push hardupon the door! — I stubbed my toeupon an old tree stump. — He wore old shoesupon his feet. — Bornupon the 4th of July. — I have no opinionupon this subject. — They proceeded to arrest someoneupon suspicion of bribery. —Upon Jack's entry, William got up to leave. — Before we knew it, the forest wasupon us, and the air grew colder and damper. — What will be the effectupon morale? — Have pity or compassionupon him. — They livedupon ten dollars a week. — We ate heapsupon heaps of food. — I dependedupon them for assistance. — He affirmed or promisedupon his word. —Upon my life, I am innocent. — A curseupon him!
1899,Hughes Mearns,Antigonish:Yesterday,upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …
c.1596–1598 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene i]:No news of them? Why, so: and I know not what's spend in the search: why thou lossupon loss! the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge: nor no ill luck stirring but what lights on my shoulders; no sighs but of my breathing; no tears but of my shedding.
2023, Patricia Taxxon, “DEDGDEDCEGEOGCGHCOCTOHOTHTHT”, inTECHDOG:The drums play on
The year of the dog isupon us.
1914 November,Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, inMunsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.:The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published1915,→OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy),page373, column 2:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascinationupon the girl's intelligence.
Usage notes
A somewhat elevated word, "upon" is used mostly in literary, poetic or legal contexts, and may seem out of place in everyday language. Nevertheless, its use in educated conversational English is unremarkable in some contexts, mostly more abstract ones, for example "I depended upon them" or "He took it upon himself to tell them", while conversational "Where's my pen?" / "It's upon the table" is likely to sound pedantic or strange. For some uses of "on", such as "I saw it on that TV show" or "Is he active on Facebook?", "upon" is so strained as to be effectively impossible. Conversely, "on" is possible as an alternative to "upon" in almost all cases; exceptions include certain set phrases, such as "once upon a time" or "Upon my word!" (dated expression of surprise).
Derived terms
Translations
Translations to be checked
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References
- “upon”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Bikol Central
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔuˈpon/ [ʔuˈpon̪]
- Hyphenation:u‧pon
Noun
upón (Basahan spellingᜂᜉᜓᜈ᜔)
- wild boar
- Synonym:baboy
See also
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
FromOld Englishupon,uppon,uppan(“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent toup +on.
Pronunciation
Preposition
upon
- upon
1407,The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages40–41:And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuyngevpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge. And herfore grete men of kunnynge and other also drowen myche to him, and comownede ofte with him. And thei sauouriden so his loore that thei wroten it bisili and enforsiden hem to rulen hem theraftir… Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. Also Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent, taughten and wroten bisili this forseide lore of Wiclef, and conformeden hem therto. And with alle these men I was ofte homli and I comownede with hem long tyme and fele, and so bifore alle othir men I chees wilfulli to be enformed bi hem and of hem, and speciali of Wiclef himsilf, as of the moost vertuous and goodlich wise man that I herde of owhere either knew. And herfore of Wicleef speciali and of these men I toke the lore whiche I haue taughte and purpose to lyue aftir, if God wole, to my lyues ende.”- (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation)
Adverb
upon
- upon
Descendants
References
- “upon,prep.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
- “upon,adv.”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.
Old English
Preposition
upon
- alternative form ofuppan
