Etymologically
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uphill

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is formed from English up + hill.[2][3][4][5][6] “Uppehill” is recorded as a surname from the late 12th century.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Merriam-Webster dates the adverb, "upward on a hill or incline", to 1535.[3] The OED's earliest record is the noun, "an ascent, a steep rise", in 1548, in Udall's translation of Erasmus's Paraphrase of the New Testament;[2] Dictionary.com dates the word 1540–50.[7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is first recorded in 1613, in Purchas, for "situated on high ground",[2][3] and since 1622, in Bacon, for "leading upwards".[2] The figurative sense "difficult, laborious", from the effort of climbing a hill, is as old, from the labour of climbing a hill:[8] the OED dates it to 1622 and Etymonline to the 1620s.[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave only this sense, "difficult; like the labour of climbing an hill", quoting Richardson's Clarissa.[8] The OED dates the adverb to 1607, in Topsell,[2] Etymonline to about 1600.[4] In gamblers' slang uphills were false dice loaded to throw high numbers, recorded from 1699 to 1824 and listed in Grose's dictionary of 1785.[2][4] The phrase uphill and downhill, alternately in good and low spirits, dates from 1681.[2]

Timeline

  • late 12th century – “Uppehill” as a surname.[4]
  • 1535 – adverb, upward on a hill.[3]
  • 1548 – noun, an ascent or steep rise.[2][3]
  • 1607 – adverb, towards the top of a hill (OED).[2]
  • 1613 – adjective, situated on high ground.[2][3]
  • 1622 – going upwards; difficult, arduous.[2]
  • 1699 – uphills, false dice (obsolete by 1824).[2]
  • 1785 – uphills in Grose's dictionary of slang.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sloping or leading upwards; going up a slope: an uphill trail.[9][3][2]
  2. Needing great and lasting effort; arduous or laborious: an uphill struggle against the odds.[9][3][2]
  3. Situated on high ground.[3][2]

Adverb

  1. Up a slope; upwards: The cyclists pedalled uphill into the wind.[9][3][2]
  2. Against difficulties.[9][3]

Noun

  1. A rising slope; an ascent.[9][3][2]

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins