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
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | ābufan | above |
| 2 | Old English | bufan | above |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *biobanā | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *obanā | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | ubanē | from above |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | upp | up, upwards |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | ub | under |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | upó | under, below |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₃ewp- | — |
Words derived from “above”