upstate

Etymology

It is an American formation from English up- + state.^[2][3][4][5] The OED takes the first element as the preposition and compares the earlier downstate, recorded from 1888.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the part of a state that lies higher than another or farther from the capital: by 1892, in accounts of New York politics, both as an adverb and as an adjective.^[2] The OED's first records are from 1901,^[6] the date Merriam-Webster also gives,^[5] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1900–05.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word has been used most often of New York State, where it means the region north of New York City.^[6][7] Because the main prisons of New York State lie upstate, upstate became underworld slang for "in or to prison" by 1934, in Thornton Wilder.^[8][6] In Black American slang of the 1950s, upstate as an adjective could also mean socially or economically superior.^[8] The noun, an upstate region or rural area, is recorded from 1965;^[6] the derivative upstater is listed by Etymonline, Collins and Dictionary.com.^[2][7][4]

Timeline

• 1892 – adverb and adjective, in the remoter part of a state, in New York politics.^[2]
• 1901 – adverb and adjective, of a part of a state remote, especially north, from a large city.^[6][5]
• 1934 – adverb, slang, in prison.^[6][8]
• 1953 – adjective, Black American slang, socially superior.^[8]
• 1965 – noun, an upstate region.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In or toward the outlying or northern part of a US state, especially of New York State: They moved upstate to raise goats.^[7][5][6]
2. (US slang) In or to prison.^[6][8][3]

Adjective

1. Of, in or from the outlying or northern part of a state: an upstate college town.^[7][5][6]

Noun

1. The outlying or northern part of a state, as opposed to its southern or metropolitan part.^[7][5][6]

Word family

• upstater

Related words

• downstate
• state

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com