Above

How to spell above

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce above

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does above mean?

1. prepositionIn or to a higher position than something else; over.

Above in a sentence

• The storage boxes sit on the shelf above the desk.

• The figures quoted above are taken from last year's report.

Where does above come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from Old English abufan, a compound built from the prefix 'a-' (meaning 'on' or 'in') joined to 'bufan', which itself blended 'be' (by) with 'ufan' (over or upward). The literal sense was something like 'on by over', describing a position higher than another thing. By the Middle English period the parts had fused into a single word and the spelling settled toward the modern 'above'. The 'u' sound in the middle is spelled with an 'o', a leftover of medieval scribal habits that also gives us 'come', 'some', and 'love', and that mismatch between sound and letter is the small trap here. Because the word is so ancient and common, its spelling has stayed remarkably stable for centuries.

How the word is built

• a- (on, in)
• bove (from Old English bufan: over, above)