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above

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above

  • /əˈbʌv/ US, UK
  • /əˈbʊv/ Northern England

Rhymes with -ʌv

Where it comes from

From Middle English above, aboven, abuven, from Old English ābufan, onbufan, from on (“on”) + bufan (“over”), (akin to Icelandic ofan (“from above”), Middle Dutch bōven, Old Frisian bova, Middle High German bobene) from bī (“by”) + ufan (“over”); also cognate with Danish oven, Dutch boven, German oben, Swedish ovan, Old Saxon oƀan, Old High German obana.

The preposition, the adjective, and the noun derive from the adverb.

preposition aboue

  1. Physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing. He always put his coat on above his sweater.
  2. In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface. And God said, Let the waters bring foorth aboundantly the mouing creature that hath life, and foule that may flie aboue the earth in the open firmament of heauen.

    Opposite: below, beneath

  3. Farther north than. Idaho is above Utah.
  4. Rising; appearing out of reach height-wise.
  5. figuratively Higher than; superior to in any respect; surpassing; higher in measure, degree, volume, or pitch, etc. than; out of reach; not exposed to; not likely to be affected by; incapable of negative actions or thoughts. to cut above average
  6. Higher in rank, status, or position. to stand head and shoulders above the rest
  7. Scotland In addition to; besides. above and beyond the call of duty
  8. Surpassing in number or quantity; more than. That amount is way above our asking price.
  9. In preference to.
  10. Too proud to stoop to; averse to; disinclined towards. The owner was above taking more than a token salary.
  11. Beyond; on the other side.
  12. Upstage of.

adverb aboue

  1. not comparable Directly overhead; vertically on top of. Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.
  2. not comparable Higher in the same page; earlier in the order as far as writing products go. Nobody has lived in it since the summer of 1879, and it is fast going to pieces. For some three years before the date mentioned above, it was occupied by the family of Charles May
  3. not comparable Into or from heaven; in the sky. He’s in a better place now, floating free as the clouds above.
  4. not comparable In a higher place; upstairs; farther upstream.
  5. not comparable Higher in rank, power, or position. He appealed to the court above.
  6. archaic, not comparable In addition.
  7. not comparable More in number.
  8. not comparable Above zero; above freezing. It was a cold day at only 5 above.
  9. not comparable On the upper half or the dorsal surface of an animal. The sparrow I saw was rufous above and off-white below.

adjective aboue

  1. not comparable Of heaven; heavenly.
  2. not comparable Being located higher on the same page or on a preceding page.

noun aboue

  1. uncountable Heaven. A brother from another mother, sent from the above.
  2. uncountable Something, especially a person's name in legal documents, that appears higher on the same page or on a preceding page.
  3. uncountable Higher authority.
  4. archaic, uncountable Betterment, raised status or condition. Withal they saw of him that he had no doubt but that they should come to their above on the morrow,

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: supra, preceding, higher up, overhead, top, upwards, atop, upward, uppermost, high, below, upper, front, across, forward, hovering

Translations

Every language

prep out of reach, heightwise

Españolfuera de alcance

prep more

Españolsobre
Portuguêsacima de, mais que, mais de
Françaisplus de
Deutschüber
Русскийсвы́ше svýše
العربيةأَكْثٰر ʔakṯār
עבריתמעל

prep over, on top of

Españolencima
हिन्दीके ऊपर ke ūpar
Portuguêsacima
Françaissur
Deutschüber
Ελληνικάαπό πάνω apó páno
Românăpeste
العربيةأَعْلَى ʔaʕlā
עבריתמֵעַל me'ál

prep in or to a higher place

Españolarriba, sobre, encima de, suso, asuso
한국어...위에 ...wi-e
日本語...の上に ... no ue ni
中文在...上面 zài...shàngmiàn
हिन्दी... के ऊपर ... ke ūpar
Portuguêsacima de, em cima de, sobre
Françaisau-dessus de
Deutschüber
Italianosopra
Ελληνικάπάνω páno
Românădeasupra
Русскийнад nad
Tiếng Việttrên
العربيةفَوقَ
עבריתמעל

prep farther north

Españolmás al norte
中文在...上面 zài...shàngmiàn
العربيةشَمَالِيّ šamāliyy

prep superior to, surpassing

Españolsobrepasar, superar
Portuguêsacima de
Françaispar-dessus
Deutschüber
Русскийпревы́ше prevýše
العربيةأَعْلَى ʔaʕlā

prep higher in rank

Españolmás en rango

prep in addition to

Españolademás de

prep in preference to

Española preferencia de
العربيةعلى ʕalā

prep too proud or averse to

Españolmuy orgulloso[a], al revés

prep beyond

Españolmás allá
Deutschüber, jenseits

prep upstage of

Españoleclipsar, hacer sombra

adv overhead, on top of

Françaisen haut
Deutschoben
Italianosopra

adv earlier in order in writing

Españolarriba
Portuguêsacima
Françaisci-dessus
Deutschfrüher, vorher, oben
Русскийвы́ше výše

adv in a higher place

Españolarriba, suso, asuso
हिन्दीऊपर ūpar
Portuguêsacima, para cima
Françaisau-dessus
Deutschhöher, oben, darüber
Ελληνικάπάνω páno
Românădeasupra
Русскийнаверху́ naverxú, вверху́ vverxú, вы́ше výše

adv higher in rank

中文高於 /高于 gāoyú
Portuguêsacima
Deutschranghöher, vorgesetzt

adj being located higher on the same page or on a preceding page

中文上述 shàngshù
Françaisci-dessus

noun something mentioned previously in a document

Русскийвышеупомя́нутый vyšeupomjánutyj

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Cite this
MLA

"above." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/above. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

above. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/above

Chicago

"above." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/above.

BibTeX
@misc{above_2026,
  title = {above},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/above},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}