Etymologically
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downgrade

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈdaʊnˌɡɹeɪd/, /ˌdaʊnˈɡɹeɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English down + grade, originally of a downward slope on a railway or road.[2][3][4][5] The verb is formed with the prefix down- on the verb grade, after the noun.[2] The second element is from French grade (“grade, degree”), from Latin gradus (“a step”), from gradior (“to walk, step”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghredh- (“to walk, go”);[3] its sense of the slope of a road dates from the 19th century.[3] The OED compares upgrade.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Downward on a slope of a railway or road: an adverb in the Baltimore Patriot & Commercial Gazette in 1838, often also figurative, towards a worse state.[2] The noun, a downward slope, follows in 1847,[2] and Merriam-Webster dates it to 1857,[4] Etymonline to 1858.[3] The word began as an American one.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the slope of a road or railway the noun passed in 1857 to a decline in morals, status or prosperity, especially in the phrase on the downgrade, declining.[2][4] A verb meaning to decline is recorded only from 1889 to 1892,[2] but the transitive verb, to give someone or something a lower grade, rank or status, appears in 1892 in a Kansas newspaper.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date this verb only to 1930,[3][4] and the Shorter Oxford to the mid 20th century.[5] The verb soon also meant to belittle or play down,[5][6][7] and the noun followed it with the sense "a reduction in rank or value" from 1935.[2] In commerce the verb was used of lowering the market class of produce such as grain,[4] and in labour use of moving a worker to a lower-paid job.[4]

Timeline

  • 1838 – adverb, downward on a slope, also figurative.[2]
  • 1847 – noun, a downward slope of a railway or road.[2] Merriam-Webster's date is 1857, Etymonline's 1858.[4][3]
  • 1857 – a decline in morals, status or prosperity, on the downgrade.[2][4]
  • 1858 – adjective, sloping downwards.[2]
  • 1889 – verb, to decline (obsolete by 1892).[2]
  • 1892 – verb, to give a lower grade or status to; to demote.[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1930.[3][4]
  • 1935 – noun, a reduction in rank, value or status.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lower the rank, status, grade or pay of someone or something; to demote: The forecasters downgraded the storm to a depression.[6][8][2]
  2. To play down the value or importance of something; to belittle.[6][5][7]
  3. To put produce such as grain in a lower market class because of defects.[4]

Noun

  1. An act or instance of downgrading; a reduction in rank, status or value.[6][8][2]
  2. (chiefly North American) A downward slope, as on a road or railway.[6][8][4]
  3. A decline to a worse condition, especially in on the downgrade, declining.[4][2][8]

Adjective

  1. Sloping or going downhill.[2][7]

Adverb

  1. Downhill.[4][7][2]

Word family

  • downgrader

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
  8. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press