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upon

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: up on

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English upon, uppon, uppen, from Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up (“adverb”) +‎ on (“preposition”). Cognate with Old Saxon uppan (“upon”), Old High German ūfan, ūffan (“upon”), Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish uppå (“up on, upon”) (thence Swedish på), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).

Pronunciation

Preposition

upon

  1. A higher-register or more formal alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.
    A vase of flowers stood upon the table. — The painting hangs upon the wall. — All of the responsibility is upon him. — She plays upon a violin (or piano). — The lighthouse that you can see is upon the mainland. — He rested upon his elbows. — Tug upon the rope; push hard upon the door! — I stubbed my toe upon an old tree stump. — He wore old shoes upon his feet. — Born upon the 4th of July. — I have no opinion upon this subject. — They proceeded to arrest someone upon suspicion of bribery. — Upon Jack's entry, William got up to leave. — Before we knew it, the forest was upon us, and the air grew colder and damper. — What will be the effect upon morale? — Have pity or compassion upon him. — They lived upon ten dollars a week. — We ate heaps upon heaps of food. — I depended upon them for assistance. — He affirmed or promised upon his word. — Upon my life, I am innocent. — A curse upon him!

Usage notes

A somewhat elevated word, "upon" is used mostly in literary, poetic or legal contexts, and may seem out of place in everyday language. Nevertheless, its use in educated conversational English is unremarkable in some contexts, mostly more abstract ones, for example "I depended upon them" or "He took it upon himself to tell them", while conversational "Where's my pen?" / "It's upon the table" is likely to sound pedantic or strange. For some uses of "on", such as "I saw it on that TV show" or "Is he active on Facebook?", "upon" is so strained as to be effectively impossible. Conversely, "on" is possible as an alternative to "upon" in almost all cases; exceptions include certain set phrases, such as "once upon a time" or "Upon my word!" (dated expression of surprise).

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

References

  • “upon”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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Bikol Central

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔuˈpon/ [ʔuˈpon̪]
  • Hyphenation: u‧pon

Noun

upón (Basahan spelling ᜂᜉᜓᜈ᜔)

  1. wild boar
    Synonym: baboy

See also

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up +‎ on.

Pronunciation

Preposition

upon

  1. upon
    • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:
      And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge. And herfore grete men of kunnynge and other also drowen myche to him, and comownede ofte with him. And thei sauouriden so his loore that thei wroten it bisili and enforsiden hem to rulen hem theraftir… Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. Also Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent, taughten and wroten bisili this forseide lore of Wiclef, and conformeden hem therto. And with alle these men I was ofte homli and I comownede with hem long tyme and fele, and so bifore alle othir men I chees wilfulli to be enformed bi hem and of hem, and speciali of Wiclef himsilf, as of the moost vertuous and goodlich wise man that I herde of owhere either knew. And herfore of Wicleef speciali and of these men I toke the lore whiche I haue taughte and purpose to lyue aftir, if God wole, to my lyues ende.”
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Adverb

upon

  1. upon

Descendants

  • English: upon
  • Yola: apan, apaa, apa, upan, upa, pa (aphetic)

References

Old English

Preposition

upon

  1. alternative form of uppan

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