Where does “above” come from?

above (Middle English) comes from Old English ābufan, from Old English bufan, from Proto-West Germanic *biobanā, from Proto-West Germanic *obanā, from Proto-Germanic ubanē, from Proto-Germanic upp, from Proto-Germanic ub, from Proto-Indo-European upó.

Ancestry of “above”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishābufanabove
2Old Englishbufanabove
3Proto-West Germanic*biobanā—
4Proto-West Germanic*obanāfrom above
5Proto-Germanicubanēfrom above
6Proto-Germanicuppup, upwards
7Proto-Germanicubunder
8Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European upó →Every word from Proto-Germanic ub →