Upgrading

How to spell upgrading

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce upgrading

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upgrading mean?

1. verbThe act of raising something to a higher standard, level, or specification, such as equipment, software, or a service.

Upgrading in a sentence

• The company is upgrading all of its office computers next month.

• Upgrading to the faster broadband plan cost only a few pounds more.

Where does upgrading come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows out of 'upgrade', a fairly modern compound that joins the everyday English direction word 'up' with 'grade'. The 'grade' element traces back to the Latin gradus, meaning 'a step' or 'a degree', the same root that gives us 'gradual' and 'gradient'. 'Grade' entered English through French in the sense of a rank or standard of quality, so 'upgrade' originally described moving something up to a higher rank or level. The compound was first used in the nineteenth century in technical and engineering contexts, including the literal upward slope of a road or railway, before settling into its familiar modern sense of improving equipment, software, or status. Adding the '-ing' ending simply turns the verb into its present participle or gerund, and the spelling keeps a single 'd' rather than doubling because the stress and the silent final 'e' of 'upgrade' are dropped before the suffix.

How the word is built

• up- (upward)
• grad (from Latin gradus: step, degree)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)