Where does “upshot” come from?
Upshot comes from Middle English up- combined with shot, derived from Old English ūp meaning "up," expressing the final result or outcome of something.
upshot (English): A concise summary; The final result, or outcome...
Definitions
- A concise summary; The final result, or outcome...
Ancestry of “upshot”, step by step
upshot traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English shot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | shot | Worn out or broken; Woven from warp and weft... |
| 2 | Middle English | schot | A missile or projectile; a thrown or fired weapon |
| 3 | Old English | Scot | shot, act of shooting |
| 4 | Old Norse | skot | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skutą | shot |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kewd- | to advance, push; to drive, propel |