above

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈbʌv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English above (also aboven), inherited from Old English abufan,^[2][3][4] reduced from earlier onbufan (“above, in or to a higher place”),^[3][2] formed from on (“on”) and bufan (“over”).^[3][2][5] The second element is itself a compound of be (“by”) and ufan (“above, from above”),^[3][2][6] from Proto-Germanic *ufan,^[3][2] whose cognates include Old Saxon oban and German oben.^[3][2][6] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *upo (“under, up from under, over”).^[2][4] It is related to over, up and by.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English abufan is recorded about 896.^[3] The OED's first sense, “overhead, on high, upstairs”, is from about 1000.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Higher on a page, or earlier in a text, is from about 1120,^[8] and “in heaven” from about 1250.^[8] Of rank or position, “superior to, higher than”, it is from about 1200,^[2] perhaps reinforced in Middle English by the sense “higher at table than, taking precedence over” in the mid-14th century.^[2] “In addition to” and “out of reach of, not stooping to” are from the mid-14th century,^[2] and “more than” in number or value from the late 14th.^[2] Above all is from the late 14th century.^[2] The noun, as in the above, is from the 13th century,^[9] and the adjective, as in the above figures, from 1604^[9] or about 1515.^[10] In Yorkshire and Lincolnshire dialect above a bit meant “very much”, and above oneself “out of one's station”.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 896 – Old English abufan.^[3]
• c. 1000 – overhead.^[8]
• c. 1120 – earlier in a text.^[8]
• c. 1200 – of higher rank.^[2]
• c. 1250 – in heaven.^[8]
• mid-14th century – in addition to.^[2]
• late 14th century – above all; more than.^[2]
• 1604 – adjective, mentioned before.^[9]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. Overhead; in or to a higher place.
2. In heaven.
3. Earlier in a text.
4. In or to a higher rank; above zero.

Preposition

1. Over or higher than.
2. Superior to in rank or number; greater than.
3. Beyond the reach or level of: above suspicion.
4. In preference to.
5. More than: above a thousand.

Noun

1. Something mentioned earlier in a text.

Adjective

1. Appearing earlier in the same text.

Word family

• aboveground
• abovementioned
• hereinabove
• above all
• over and above
• above stairs
• above the line

Related words

• over
• up
• by
• about
• beneath

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that above as an adjective or noun for a preceding text is most common in business and legal writing; most of its Usage Panel accepted the adjective (the above figures), but only a minority the noun (read the above).^[12]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin