Etymologically
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upset

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʌpˈset/ (verb, adjective), /ˈʌp.set/ (noun)[1]

Etymology

It is a Middle English compound, upsetten, of up and set,[2][3][4] with a similar formation in Middle Dutch opsetten “to set up, propose” and German aufsetzen.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To raise up, set up”: about 1200 in Etymonline,[2] about 1440 in the OED, which records the verb mainly in the past participle before then.[5] The past participle adjective, “erected”, is from the early 14th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

The early senses, “to set up, raise, erect” and “to establish”, are now obsolete.[2][5] In the 14th century the noun meant an insurrection, in Scotland, from about 1425,[5] and in the north the setting up in business as a master, from 1463–4.[5][2] In smithing, to upset is to thicken a heated bar by hammering on its end, from 1677.[5][6] The sense “to overturn, capsize”, from 1803, took over from the obsolete overset.[2] The figurative sense “to throw into mental discomposure” is from 1805,[2] and of the stomach from 1834.[2] The noun, the overturning of a vehicle or boat, is from 1804,[2][4] and a mental disturbance from 1866.[2] An unexpected defeat in a contest is in Merriam-Webster as a later sense.[6] In dialect it also meant to knock down, in Surrey, and to scold or put out of temper, in Berkshire, Norfolk and Kent.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – to set up.[2]
  • c. 1425 – noun, an insurrection.[5]
  • 1463–4 – setting up in business.[5]
  • 1677 – to thicken metal by hammering.[5]
  • 1803 – to overturn.[2]
  • 1804 – noun, an overturning.[2][4]
  • 1805 – to distress; adjective, distressed.[2]
  • 1834 – of the stomach.[2]
  • 1866 – noun, a mental disturbance.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To tip or turn over; to capsize.
  2. To disturb the order or course of: upset the schedule.
  3. To distress or disturb emotionally.
  4. To make physically ill: the food upset my stomach.
  5. To defeat (a favoured opponent) unexpectedly.
  6. To thicken and shorten (a heated metal bar) by hammering on the end.

Noun

  1. An unexpected defeat.
  2. A disturbance or disorder, as of the stomach.
  3. An emotional disturbance.

Adjective

  1. Emotionally disturbed or distressed.
  2. Overturned; in disorder.

Word family

  • upsetter
  • upsettingly
  • upsettable
  • unupset
  • upset price
  • set
  • setup
  • overset
  • upsetting

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 p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ 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)