upon

English · Thesaurus

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upon

  • /əˈpɒn/ UK
  • /əˈpɔn/ Australia, British, Scotland
  • /əˈpɑn/ US
  • /əˈpɔn/ US
  • /əˈpɒn/ New Zealand
  • [əˈpɔ̟n] New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɒn

Where it comes from

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”).

preposition uppon · vpon · vppon

  1. 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 rested upon his elbows. — Tug upon the rope; push hard upon the door! — I stubbed my

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: behind, over, atop, under, subject, above, around, resting, concerning, towards, regarding, beyond, immediately, suite, basis, relating

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{upon_2026,
  title = {upon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/upon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}