upon
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 Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish på (“up on, upon”), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /əˈpɒn/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /əˈpɑn/, /əˈpɔn/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: up‧on
- Rhymes: -ɒn
Preposition
upon
- Physically above and in contact with.
- Place the book upon the table.
- 1899, Hughes Mearns, Antigonish:
- 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 …
- Physically directly supported by.
- The crew set sail upon the sea.
- She balanced upon one foot.
- Being followed by another so as to form a series.
- hours upon hours, years upon years, mile upon mile of desert
- 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III Scene 1
- 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 what lights on my shoulders; no sighs but of my breathing; no tears but of my shedding.
- At (a prescribed point in time).
- The contract was rendered void upon his death.
- On.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.
- Template:RQ:Vance Nobody
- Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.
Usage notes
A somewhat elevated word, upon is common in poetic or legal contexts, but the simpler, more general term on is generally interchangeable, and more common in casual American speech.
Synonyms
Translations
being above and in contact with another
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being directly supported by another
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at a prescribed point in time
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- 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
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Adverb
upon (not comparable)
- Being the target of an action.
- He was set upon by the agitated dogs
Derived terms
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English compound terms
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɒn
- English lemmas
- English prepositions
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- English adverbs
- English uncomparable adverbs