upright English · revision 39910

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Old English, Beowulf}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈʌpɹaɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|upriht]], [[inh|ang|upriht|t=standing up, erect]], also written [[m|ang|uppriht]],^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) a compound of [[m|ang|ūp|t=up]] and [[m|ang|riht|t=right, straight]],^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) that is, of [[up]] and [[right]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Wiktionary reconstructs the common Germanic form as [[gem-pro|*upprehtaz]].^(Wiktionary) The same compound is found across Germanic: [[ofs|upriucht]], [[dum|oprecht]] (modern [[m|nl|oprecht]]), [[goh|ūfreht]] (modern [[de|aufrecht]]) and [[non|upréttr]], with [[da|opret]] and [[sv|upprät]].^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Weekley compares the figurative use of the German word and [[m|de|aufrichtig|t=sincere]].^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Erect, standing up on the feet: the OED's first example is from ''Beowulf'',^(OED 2026) which Barnhart dates to about 725.^(Barnhart 1988) Old English also used the adjective for lying flat on the back with the face upwards, a sense that lasted until 1627,^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) and Etymonline gives "face-upward, not bent or curved" among its first meanings.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense "morally good, honest, righteous" grew from the idea of standing straight:^(Etymonline) Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) while Barnhart's first example is from Palsgrave's French grammar of 1530,^(Barnhart 1988) and Hoad dates "of unbending rectitude" to the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) Of things, ''upright'' meant set or placed vertically from 1398, in Trevisa,^(OED 2026) and of persons, erect in carriage from about 1390, in Chaucer's ''Miller's Tale''.^(OED 2026) In 16th- and 17th-century cant an ''upright man'' was a big, sturdy vagrant, one of the higher class of beggars, or their leader.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The noun, at first "a vertical front or face", is recorded from 1563;^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) a vertical timber in a frame is from about 1700, anything standing erect from 1742, and an upright piano from 1860.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In English dialects ''upright'' also meant sound in health, not lame, and in the phrase ''to live upright'', living on private means without working, recorded from Yorkshire to Suffolk.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – ''upriht'', erect on the feet; also lying face upward.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1340 – verb, to raise to an upright position.^(OED 2026)

+ * late 14th century – morally upright, honest.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1390 – of a person, erect in carriage.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1398 – of a thing, set vertically.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1509 – adverb, uprightly.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530 – honest, righteous (Barnhart's first example).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1563 – noun, a vertical front or face.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1567 – (cant) ''upright man'', a sturdy vagrant.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1742 – something standing erect, as a post.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1860 – an upright piano.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Standing straight up; [[vertical]] or [[erect]]: ''Please return your seats to the upright position.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # [[honest|alt=Honest]], [[honourable]] and just in conduct: ''an upright judge''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Of a device or piece of furniture, built to stand or be used vertically, as an upright piano or an upright freezer.^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In or into a vertical position: ''He sat bolt upright when the phone rang.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A vertical [[support]], such as a [[post]] or [[stake]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An [[upright piano]].^(Collins 2023)^(Etymonline)

+ # The state of being vertical: ''The fence leans out of upright.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To set upright; to raise to a vertical position.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uprightly]]

+ * [[uprightness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[right]]

+ * [[up]]

+ * [[erect]]

+ * [[righteous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}