above

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology

Old English ābufan. Cognate with Danish oven, Dutch boven, German oben, Swedish ovan.

[edit] Preposition

above

  1. In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface; over; — opposed to below or beneath.
    • (Can we date this quote?) translation of Genesis 2:20,
      Fowl that may fly above the earth.
  2. Figuratively, higher than; superior to in any respect; surpassing; beyond; higher in measure or degree than; as, things above comprehension; above mean actions; conduct above reproach.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Marlowe,
      Thy worth […] is actions above my gifts.
    • (Can we date this quote?) translation of Acts 36:13,
      I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun.
  3. Surpassing in number or quantity; more than; as, above a hundred. (Passing into the adverbial sense; see adverb #4 below.)

[edit] Translations

in or to a higher place
superior to, surpassing
more
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Adverb

above (not comparable)

  1. In a higher place; overhead; into or from heaven.
    He's in a better place now, floating free as the clouds above.
  2. Earlier in order; higher in the same page; hence, in a foregoing page.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Dryden,
      That was said above.
  3. Higher in rank or power.
    He appealed to the court above.

[edit] Derived terms

  • "Above" is also used as the first part of a compound in the sense of before, previously; as, above-cited, above-described, above-mentioned, above-named, abovesaid, abovespecified, above-written, above-given.

[edit] Translations

in a higher place
earlier in order
higher in rank
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Adjective

above (not comparable)

  1. Above is often used elliptically as an adjective by omitting the word said, mentioned, quoted, or the like:
    • the above(-said) observations
    • the above(-cited) reference
    • the above(-quoted) articles

[edit] Noun

above (uncountable)

  1. Above is often used further elliptically as a noun by omitting the noun, where it is should be clear what is omitted.
    See the above.

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

above-mentioned

[edit] References

  • Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The vertical axis", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

[edit] Statistics

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