up

Forms

up^[1] Also spelt upp; some glossaries write it with a long vowel, ūp.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp (“up, upwards”).^[1] Orel heads the Germanic word *uppa, with Old Norse upp, Old Frisian up, Old Saxon upp and Old High German uppa;^[5] Old Saxon and Old High German also have a form with a long vowel, ūp and ūf, and Gothic 𐌹𐌿𐍀 (iup) goes back to *eup(p)a.^[5][6]

Orel takes the double consonant as a gemination of *uƀa, after Johansson's *up-nó.^[5] Wiktionary gives the same choice: a nasal suffix, or analogy with *uppai.^[1] Köbler traces it to Proto-Indo-European *upo (“under, up, over”), following Pokorny, and Etymonline explains the meaning as “up from under”.^[3][7] Holthausen refers to ufan and ofer.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A grant of King Berhtwulf of Mercia (844×845) calls down the displeasure of God & his ðaere haligran up in heofnum “and of his saints up in heaven”; its single sheet is of the mid-ninth century, judged original by Brooks and perhaps a slightly later copy by O'Donovan.^[9][10] The bounds of Æthelwulf's charter of 846 run from ðyrelan stane up on broc “from the pierced stone up along the brook”.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

The adverb marks motion from a lower to a higher point, and also from below a surface to it: the sun goes up, gold is dug up out of the earth, a well springs up.^[2] It is used of coming from sea to land, cōm upp Agustinus, and of going inland, up on land.^[2][12] Sweet adds “up a river” and ūp forlǣtan “to put ashore”.^[13] In the laws it occasionally means “on top, above”, beside the usual uppe.^[12]

The word lived on as Middle English up, now English up;^[14][7] Etymonline dates its use as a preposition from late Old English.^[14][7]

Timeline

• 844×845 – up in heofnum in Berhtwulf's grant, on a single sheet of the mid-ninth century.^[9][10]
• 846 – up on broc in the bounds of Æthelwulf's charter.^[11][10]
• s. ix med. – the word in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[15][10]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – cōm upp Agustinus “Augustine landed” in the Old English Bede.^[2][16]

Meanings

Adverb

1. up, upwards, to a higher place.^[2][17]
2. up to the surface, out of the ground or water; of the sun, rising.^[2]
3. from sea to land, ashore.^[2][13]
4. inland, up country; up a river.^[13][12]
5. on top, above.^[12][13]

Word family

• upgang
• upcyme
• upriht
• upweard
• uplang
• uplendisc
• upāhebban
• upāstīgan
• upheofon

Descendants

• Middle English up (→ English up)^[1]

Related words

• uppe
• uppan
• ufan
• ofer

Usage notes

Bosworth and Toller list an adjective up “that is above”, from upne ēcne gefēan in Christ and Satan;^[18][19] Toller's Supplement doubts the form and would read uppe.^[18][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1139
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. up
4. ^ North, Richard; Bintley, Michael D. J., eds. (2016), Andreas: An Edition, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press (glossary), p. s.v. ūp
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 435
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 377
9. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 204
10. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 298
12. ^ a b c d Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 230
13. ^ a b c d Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 218
14. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
15. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
17. ^ Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. up
18. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1140
19. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 738