Etymologically
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upbringing

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈʌpˌbrɪŋɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English up- + bringing,[2][3] or, as other dictionaries put it, from the obsolete verb upbring, to rear, with the suffix -ing.[4][5][6][7] That verb is upbringen,[4][8] formed from up and bringen (“to bring”);[4][8] the OED compares Old Frisian opbringa, Dutch opbrengen, Middle Low German upbringen, German aufbringen, Danish opbringe and Swedish uppbringa.[2] Bring itself goes back to Old English bringan.[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its only Middle English record the noun meant the introducing of a fashion, about 1400.[3] The OED's first record, in the council register of Aberdeen in 1484, means "building", a sense that did not last.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb upbring had meant "to bring up, rear" since 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's chronicle,[2][8] and the noun took the sense "the rearing and training of the young" in the early 16th century: in about 1525 in John Rastell's New Commodye,[2] in 1520 according to Merriam-Webster,[4] and in the 1510s according to Etymonline.[3] It was mainly Scottish in the 16th century and came into general use only around 1870.[3] The verb itself is now archaic or dialectal.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – the introducing of a fashion.[3]
  • 1484 – building (obsolete).[2][7]
  • c. 1525 – the bringing up of young people.[2][4][3]
  • c. 1870 – in general use outside Scotland.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The way a child is brought up and trained in the early years; rearing and education: Her upbringing on a farm left her at ease with horses.[10][4][2]
  2. The process of bringing up a child; also called bringing-up.[10][4]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c 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)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins