Upward

adv., prep., a., and sb. Forms: α. 1 upweard (2 uppweard), 2– upward (3 Orm. uppwarrd), 3–7 vpward (4–5 opward), 4–6 vp-, 6 vpp(e)warde; 3 (9 Sc.) upwart, 5, Sc. 6 vpwart (5 Sc. wp-). β. 3–4, dial. 9 uppard, 4 vppard, 3–4 vpard, 4 opard; 3 uppart, 5 Sc. vpart. [OE. upweard, f. up UP adv.¹ + weard -WARD. Cf. MLG. upwart, -wort, MDu. opwaert, -wert, -werd, etc. (Du. opwaart), MHG. ufwart, -wert. See also UPWARDS.]

  A.  adv. I. 1. To or towards a higher position or plane; from a lower to a loftier level or object; in an ascending course or direction: a. In reference to movement or extension through space.

  Occas. upward and downward, = UP AND DOWN adv. 1.

  α.  a. 900.  Cynewulf, Elene 805 (Gr.). He mid bæm handum … upweard pleʓade.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Hom., II. 548. Ða ʓewende eal se sang upweard to heofenum.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 12826. Ȝe shulenn sen … Godess enngless Uppwarrd & dunnwarrd baþe upponn þe manness Sune stiȝhenn.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 72. Ase ȝe muwen iseon þe water, hwon me punt hit,… þeonne is hit ined aȝein uor to climben upward.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 6564. Þe water uaste wax vpward hei & wide.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 5272. Þe fendys þat were yn þe pytte Smote vpwarde.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, H. Fame, II. 236. Fire or sovne Or smoke … Alwey … seke vpwarde on hight.

c. 1400.  Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), V. i. 69. Now … fle we vpward, as fast as we may!

1482.  Caxton, Reynard (Arb.), 33. I will helpe that the ladder be sette vp, that he may goo vpwart theron.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, x. 42. Now spring vp flouris fra the rute, Reuert ȝow vpwart naturaly.

1598.  B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum., III. v. He voided a bushell of soot yesterday, upward and downward.

1620.  Venner, Via Recta, i. 21. Because it fumeth vpward, it causeth drowsinesse.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., I. 499. Watchful Herons,… mounting upward with erected Flight,… soar above the Sight.

1706.  Prior, Ode to Queen, v. Upward the Noble Bird directs his Wing.

1771.  J. S., Le Dran’s Observ. Surg. (ed. 4), 172. Mr. Morand … dilated the Part upward and downward.

1823.  Byron, Island, III. i. Sulphury vapours upward driven Had left the earth.

1876.  Tennyson, Harold, I. i. Like a spirit in Hell who … cannot scape the flame … Steam’d upward from the undescendible Abysm.

  fig. and transf.  1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2957. As sone as eldol him ysey is herte vpward drou.

1766.  Goldsm., Vicar, xxviii. Thus to … fling those curses upward that must soon descend to crush thy own grey head…!

1850–1.  Longf., Golden Leg., IV. Cloisters, 15. Upward steals the life of man, As the sunshine from the wall.

  β.  c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 105. Ech god ȝiue … cuineð of heuene dunward, and ech idel, and unnit and iuel, neðen uppard.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1964 (Bodl. MS. 17). Hwenne ȝe twa walden keasten uppart þing þet ha chahten.

13[?].  R. Gloucester’s Chron. (1724), 321. So þat þe water vaste waxe vppard hey & wyde.

13[?].  Geburt Jesu, 181, in Horstm., Altengl. Leg. (1875), 75. Heo ne bi heold after fader ne moder, þo heo vppard steiȝ.

  b.  In reference to aspect, attitude, or direction.

a. 1000.  Boeth. Metr., xxxi. 23. Nis þæt ʓedafenlic þæt se modsefa monna æniʓes niðerheald wese, & þæt neb upweard.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 59. Þene Mon he lufede and welbiþohte, and for-þi his neb upward he wrohte.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 337. Heo biheold upward, wið upaheuen heorte.

1303.  R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 6664. He loked vpwarde with hys yne.

1362.  Langl., Piers Pl., A. V. 262. A þousent of Men … Criȝinge vpward to Crist … To haue grace [etc.].

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 64. Upon his brest … he leith His hond, and cast upward his yhe.

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Æsop, V. x. He loked and byheld vpward to the heuen.

1565.  Cooper, s.v. Resupinus, He standeth vpright with his clawes or nayles vpwarde to heauen.

a. 1586.  Sidney, trans. De Mornay, i. If yee looke upward, yee see there infinite bodies.

1646.  Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., IV. i. 181. To gape or looke upward with the eye.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, V. 687. Acestes,… shooting upward, sends his shaft.

1703.  Pope, Thebais, 644. His sad companions upward gaze.

1789.  Wordsw., Evening Walk, 25. Impatience, pointing upward, showed, Through passes yet unreached a brighter road.

1812.  J. Wilson, Isle of Palms, II. 79. Upward when he turns his sight.

1818.  Shelley, Rosal. & Helen, 1155. His countenance Raised upward, burned with radiance.

1850.  Household Words, I. 229/1. I saw him looking upward.

  fig.  a. 1670.  Hacket, Abp. Williams, II. (1693), 194. They … look’t downward upon those dishonourable Actions, not upward upon his Vertues.

1836.  W. Irving, Astoria, I. 29. To these were added an aspiring spirit that always looked upward; a genius [etc.].

  c.  fig. To or towards a loftier stage, level, or standard, in respect of thought, feeling, life, distinction, excellence, etc.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 6014. God mann riseþþ aȝȝ uppwarrd In alle gode dedess.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 132. [They] þencheð uppard, of þe blisse of heouene.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., III. x. 337. The chirche grewe vpward bothe in kunnyng and in lyuyng.

c. 1510.  More, Picus, Wks. 2/2. Whose mind should alway as the fyre aspire vpward to heauenlye thinges. Ibid. (a. 1535), Rich. III., Ibid., 68/1. Sir James Tyrell … had an high heart and sore longed vpwarde.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., IV. ii. 24. Rosse. Things at the worst will cease, or else climbe vpward, To what they were before.

1692.  Dryden, Eleonora, 152. Now ’tis Faith ascends, Now Hope, now Charity, that upward tends.

1732.  Pope, Ess. Man, I. 173. What would this Man? Now upward will he soar, And little less than Angel, would be more.

1849.  Thirlwall, Rem. (1878), III. 352. Upward hearts—upward, above all paltry, sordid, grovelling aims and desires.

1898.  Illingworth, Divine Immanence, i. 9. Every form of conscious life, from the lowest sensitive organism upward.

  d.  Higher in respect of price or value, etc.

1874.  Times, 12 Jan., 6/5. The trade was very firm, with a Strong inclination upward in price. Ibid. There appears to be a strong tendency upward [in the price of corn].

  2.  Up along the course of a stream, etc.; further into the interior of a country; to or towards a center, metropolis, source, etc. Also in fig. context.

a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1013. Sweʓen cyning mid his flotan … wende … in to Humbran muðan, & swa upp weard andlang Trentan.

c. 1205.  Lay., 9298. Hamun arnde upward & oðer while adunward.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 73. Þanne vpward aboue þat is þe ilond Farne.

c. 1450.  Capgrave, Life St. Aug., 3. In þis same Numedie stant … Tagatenses … sumwhat upward mor on-to Cartage.

1505.  in Leadam, Star Chamber Cases (Selden), 223. Euery Trow or Cobull passing vpward vndre the seide Brugge.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 765. The yong kyng … he conueyed vpwarde towarde the Citie of London.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 408. An ancient Legend I prepare to sing, And upward follow Fame’s immortal Spring.

1709.  Pope, Ess. Crit., 127. Be Homer’s works your study,… And trace the Muses upward to their spring.

  b.  Towards the body or head. (Cf. 3 b, 5.)

1600.  Shaks., Hen. V., II. iii. 19 (Q. 1). I felt to them [sc. his feet],… And to his knees,… and so vpward, and vpward.

1647.  N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., I. xlvii. 123. The vast body of the Roman Empire like a body wasting with age, died upward.

  3.  In, occupying, or so as to occupy a higher or the highest position or place.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 23316. Þai sal be sett in þair prisun, Vpward þair fete, þair hefdes dun.

1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, i. (Peter), 688. It is myn will one þe croice to be festnyt swa, myn fet vp-wart.

c. 1440.  Pallad. on Husb., III. 787. Vpwarde The bottom, do this vessel closid so.

c. 1450.  Two Cookery-bks., 101. Ley the pike in a charger, the wombe side vpward.

1523.  Fitzherb., Husb., § 16. The plough … tourneth the roote vpwarde, that it maye not growe.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 40. They make of hym an Image paynted reuersed with his heles vpwarde.

1601.  Shaks., Jul. C., V. iii. 93. Messa[la]. Titinius face is vpward. Cato. He is slaine.

1613, 1641.  [see INVERT v.¹].

1667.  Milton, P. L., VI. 649. Coming towards them … they saw The bottom of the Mountains upward turn’d.

1755.  Johnson, Supination, the act of lying with the face upward.

1809.  in Naval Chron., XXI. 369. Puncheons … were placed end-upward.

1849.  Ainsworth, Lanc. Witches, II. iii. [He has nailed] a horse-shoe … to t’ threshold…, heel uppard.

  b.  In respect of the upper part or parts, esp. of the body.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (1919), xxx. 178. Sum men seyn þat þei [sc. griffins] han the body vpward as an Egle, and benethe as a Lyoun.

1426.  Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 1704. Tak exaumple off thy staff Wych Grace Dieu vn-to the gaff: Thogh the poynt be sharp & kene, Yt ys vpward pleyn, smothe & clene.

1575.  Laneham, Lett. (1907), 54. Fyrst, oour too feet, too legs, too kneez, so vpward: and abooue, too shoolderz [etc.].

1607.  Puritan, I. iv. 75. Hee lookes like a Monkey vpward, and a Crane downe-ward.

1667.  Milton, P. L., I. 463. Wagon his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man And downward Fish.

  † 4.  Upright; erectly. Obs. rare.

c. 1290.  S. Eng. Leg., I. 82/11. A wei þer was of scharpe stones: and opward stoden echon.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 7186. He sat him vpward vp is bed.

  5.  With (vertical) extension from a point or part (esp. of the body) to another expressed or implied.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), V. 209. A child … þat hadde tweie bodyes from þe navel upward.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), ii. 5. Þai made þat peece þat went fra [ed. 1839 from] þe erthe vpward … of cypresse. Ibid., vii. 24. It had … fra þeine vpward þe schappe of a gayte.

c. 1440.  Wycliffite Bible, 1 Sam. ix. 2 (MS. Bodl. 277). Fro þe schuldre and upward he appeeride ouer þe peple.

c. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, I. 97. Fendes token vp þe body, and beten hyt wyth brennyng scorgys from þe nauell vpward.

c. 1511.  1st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.), p. xxxiii/2. The whyche ben fro the myddel vpward lyke men.

1539.  Bible, Ezek. i. 27. As it had bene all of fyre within from hys loynes vpward.

1592.  Soliman & Pers., IV. ii. 41. His skin is but pistol profe from the girdle vpward.

1600.  Shaks., Much Ado, III. ii. 36 (Q. 1). A Spaniard from the hip vpward.

1642.  Howell, For. Trav. (Arb.), 57. It is well known the Habassines are Jacobites and Christians from the girdle upward.

  6.  Comb., as (sense 1) upward-gazing, -rushing, -shooting, -stirring, -striving; upward pointed; (sense 2) upward-bound.

1710.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4681/3. The *upward-bound Ships for the Eastward.

1800.  Hull Advertiser, 18 Oct., 3/2. The upward-bound … are at anchor.

1871.  Palgrave, Lyr. Poems, 64. As some still *upward-gazing lake.

1821.  Atherstone, Poems, 6. With *upward pointed hands, these pray’d aloud.

1871.  Tennyson, Last Tournament, 440. An ever *upward-rushing storm and cloud Of shriek and plume.

1857.  Dufferin, Lett. High Lat. (ed. 3), 328. The *upward shooting fluff of seas.

1844.  Emerson, Ess., II. viii. In countless *upward-striving waves The moon-drawn tide-wave strives.

  II.  7. Backward in order of time; continuously into the past.

c. 1055.  Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 327. Swa fela daga tell þu fram martius monðes ende upweard.

c. 1175.  Twelfth Cent. Hom., 34. Lucas tealde þanon … upweard to Adame seofen & hund-seofentiȝ mæȝða.

c. 1200.  Ormin, 2056. Cristess kinn Onn eorþe, o moderr hallfe, Bi weppmann shollde reccnedd ben Uppwarrd & dunnwarrd baþe.

1611.  Bible, Haggai ii. 18. Consider now from this day, and vpward,… euen from the day that the foundation of the Lords Temple was laid, consider it. Ibid., 15.

  8.  a. To or into later life. Cf. UP adv.¹ 22 c.

c. 1530.  Tindale, Num. viii. 24. From .xxv. yere vppwarde they shall goo in to wayte [etc.].

1531.  Elyot, Gov., I. xvi. Children … from the age of xiiii. yeres upwarde.

1711.  Steele, Spect., No. 136, ¶ 2. I am, and ever have been from my Youth upward, one of the greatest Liars.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 54. He was a soldier from his youth upward.

1890.  J. Pulsford, Loyalty to Christ, I. 123. From childhood and upward, our ears have been … thronged with the jargon of idolaters.

  b.  And (also or) upward, = UPWARDS adv. 6 b.

  (a)  1555.  Eden, Decades (Arb.), 369. Children of th[e] age of .xii. or .xiii. yeares or vppewarde.

1595.  Platt, Discov. Eng. Wants, A 3. Sencoale … at the rate of 8s the chawdren or vpwarde.

1596.  Harington, Anat. Metam. Ajax, L iij b. A Cesterne containing a barrell [of water] or vpward.

1708.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4479/8. A black Cart Gelding, about 15 hands high, or upward.

  (b)  1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 422. He was xxxii. yeares olde and vpwarde.

1608.  Relat. Trav. W. Bush, E j b. To the number of two thousand people and vp-ward.

1796.  H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), I. 162. A series of a hundred and fifty leagues in length, and upward.

  c.  To a higher number or amount. rare.^–1

1575.  Laneham, Lett. (1907), 54. So az all … numbrings from too vntoo three, and so vpward, may well be counted numberz.

  9.  Upward of, = UPWARDS adv. 8.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iv. 36. I haue beene your Wife, in this Obedience, Vpward of twenty yeares.

a. 1628.  F. Grevil, Sidney (1652), 199. The builders of any ships upward of so many hundred Tuns.

1864.  Intellectual Observer, VI. 282. A good swarm … containing at the lowest estimate upward of 40,000.

  † B.  prep. Up; along the line of ascent of. rare.

c. 1485.  Digby Myst. (1882), v. 388. I se hym now com vpward the hill.

1818.  Keats, Endym., I. 266. Whether to surprise The squatted hare…; Or upward ragged precipices flit To save poor lambkins.

  c.  adj. (Cf. OE. upweard adj.)

  † 1.  Facing upwards; lying on the back; supine; = UPRIGHT a. 2. Obs.

  A few examples occur in OE.

1607.  Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 465. A certaine herbe … which … maketh him to fall presently vpon his backe & lye vpward without stirring.

1615.  Crooke, Body of Man, 268. The position or manner of lying of the sickeman, eyther prone that is downeward, or supine that is vpward.

1646.  Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., 194. Women drowned float prone,… but men supine or upward, is an assertion wherein the … point it selfe is dubious.

  2.  Directed towards a higher or loftier point, place, or plane; having a vertical or ascensional course or direction; taking place or inclined upwards; ascending.

1607.  Shaks., Timon, IV. iii. 190. Common Mother [= the earth],… Teeme with new Monsters, whom thy vpward face Hath to the Marbled Mansion all aboue Neuer presented.

1634.  Milton, Comus, 98. The slope Sun his upward beam Shoots against the dusky Pole.

1700.  Dryden, Theodore & Hon., 315. So spread upon a Lake, with upward Eye, A plump of Fowl behold their Foe on high.

1704.  Prior, Lett. to Boileau, 174. The Eagle … directs her upward Flight. Ibid. (1718), Solomon, III. 875. The Angel said; With upward Speed His agile Wings He spread.

1784.  Cowper, Tiroc., 383. The exalted prize demands an upward look.

1839.  Bailey, Festus, 334. The last high upward slant of sun on the trees.

a. 1842.  Wordsw., Misc. Sonn., III. xxxi. She stands…, One upward hand … lying softly on her breast.

1890.  J. Pulsford, Loyalty to Christ, I. 104. The upward slopes of the new life are delightful, and the prospects enrapturing.

1899.  Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 81. The movement and discomfort in the hands may be relieved … by very gentle upward rubbing.

  transf.  1843.  Penny Cycl., XXVI. 419/1. The speech-note on the word ‘pale’ will consist of an upward movement of the voice.

  Spec.  1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2684/1. Upward filter, a filter in which the flow of the liquid is upward.

  b.  Having a trend, course, drift, etc., that indicates advance, progress, or increase.

1596.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., V. iii. 1. Thus farre our fortune keepes an vpward course.

1852.  Lawson’s Merchant’s Mag., July, 236. A change … in the weather … has checked the upward tendency in quotations [of grain].

1870.  Pall Mall G., 23 Sept., 9/2. Where there is any change [in the Stock Markets] it is in the upward direction.

1914.  Eng. Hist. Rev., Jan., 135. The upward movement which raised the lower labouring classes.

  c.  Having lofty aims or purpose.

1850.  Tennyson, In Mem., XLI. vi. Tho’ following with an upward mind The wonders that have come to thee.

  3.  Situated or lying aloft or above; higher in place or position; lofty.

1622.  Boys, Wks., 957. Troubles in this world (quoth Austin) are an vpward hell.

1815.  Shelley, Alastor, 278. A swan … with strong wings Scaling the upward sky.

1819.  W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 79. Barns spy’d, frae his upwart place,… George’s face.

  4.  † a. (See quot.) Obs.

1729.  Boyer, Dict. Royal, II. s.v., Upward Goods, or Merchandize, (so inland Traders call Goods designed for London).

  b.  Directed, moving, etc., up along a stream or river; taking place up-stream.

1731.  in Extr. Navig. Rolls Thames (1772), 22. The Master or chief Boatman of any upward Boat or Barge.

1816.  Tuckey, Narr. Exped. R. Zaire, iv. (1818), 134. Running directly on the rocks, and forming a strong upward eddy on its west side. Ibid., 144. Our upward view of the river.

1818.  M. Birkbeck, Notes Journ. Amer. (ed. 4), 80. The upward navigation of these streams.

1887.  Field, 31 Dec., 985/3. In regard to other migratory fish … the same weirs have the effect … of … arresting their upward migration.

  † 5.  Going backward in time. Obs.^–1

1603.  B. Jonson, Panegyre, 90. She then remembred to his thought … the vpward race Of kings, præceding him in that high court.

  D.  sb. † 1. The top part; the crown or summit.

1605.  Shaks., Lear, V. iii. 136. From th’ extremest vpward of thy head, To the discent and dust below thy foote.

  2.  Upward movement. Also fig.

1898.  Meredith, Odes Fr. Hist., 30. Not singing the spirally upward of rapture, the downward of pain Rather, the drop sheer downward from pressure of merciless weight.