upside

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈʌp.saɪd/^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of up and side.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The upper side or surface of something, the upper part: 1611.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In commerce, an upward movement of share prices or the potential for one is from 1961,^[5] which led to the general sense, the positive aspect of something.^[4][6] The phrase upside the head, of a blow, is from 1970 in African-American speech,^[2][5] and Merriam-Webster derives the prepositional upside, perhaps, from up and -side as in alongside (1929).^[3]

Timeline

• 1611 – the upper side.^[5][3]
• 1961 – an upward price movement.^[5]
• 1970 – upside the head.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The upper side or part.
2. An advantage or positive aspect: the upside of the plan.
3. An upward trend, as in share prices or profits.

Preposition

1. (informal, chiefly US) On or against: upside the head.

Word family

• upside down

Related words

• downside
• alongside

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press