Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: verb: /ʌpˈdeɪt/; noun: /ˈʌp.deɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English up + date, first American,[2][3][4] from the phrase up to date.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bring information up to date: 1941 in Merriam-Webster,[3] 1944 in Etymonline[2] and 1948 in the OED,[5] which also has an isolated early British example from 1910.[5]

Semantic evolution

Of persons, “to supply with the most recent information”, it is from 1952,[2][5] and of equipment or processes, to modernize, from 1959.[5] The noun, new information or an updated version, is from 1967 in Etymonline and the OED,[2][5] and 1965 in Merriam-Webster.[3] In computing, the act of updating data is from 1968.[5]

Timeline

  • 1910 – an isolated British use.[5]
  • 1941 – to bring up to date.[3]
  • 1952 – to inform a person.[2][5]
  • 1959 – to modernize equipment.[5]
  • 1965 – noun.[3]
  • 1967 – new information.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To bring up to date with the latest information or changes.
  2. To give a person the latest information.
  3. To modernize equipment or software.

Noun

  1. Information that brings something up to date.
  2. The act of updating, or an up-to-date version: a software update.

Word family

  • updatable
  • updater
  • up
  • date
  • outdated
  • backdate

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press