upon
A higher-register or more formal alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.
Preposition
- 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...
- Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away … - 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
- No news of them? Why, so: and I know not what's spend in the search: why thou loss upon loss! the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief; and no satisfaction, no revenge: nor no ill luck stirring but...
Origin
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Germanic *ub Proto-Germanic *upp Proto-West Germanic *upp Old English upp Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Old English uppan Middle English upon English upon 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”).
Forms
Derived
act upon allot upon Ashton upon Mersey Barrow upon Humber Barrow upon Soar Barrow upon Trent Barton upon Humber Barton upon Irwell base upon bear upon begin upon Berwick-upon-Tweed blow upon Bolton upon Dearne break a butterfly upon a wheel break a butterfly upon the wheel break a fly upon a wheel break a fly upon the wheel break upon the wheel breathe upon bring upon build upon Burton upon Stather Burton upon Trent