Upholding

How to spell upholding

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce upholding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upholding mean?

1. verbMaintaining, supporting, or confirming something such as a law, decision, value, or standard.

Upholding in a sentence

• The appeal court is upholding the original conviction.

• The firm prides itself on upholding strict safety standards.

Where does upholding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'uphold', a native English compound that joins the adverb 'up' with the verb 'hold'. The 'hold' part descends from Old English 'healdan', which meant 'to keep, guard, or maintain', and which is closely related to Dutch 'houden' and German 'halten'. The combined form 'upholden' appears in Middle English from around the 1200s, originally with the literal sense of holding something up or supporting its weight. Over time the figurative meaning came to dominate: to uphold is to keep a law, decision, principle, or reputation from falling, much as one might physically prop something up. The spelling stays transparent because both parts are everyday words, so the only real care needed is keeping the single 'l' before the '-ding' ending rather than doubling it.

How the word is built

• up- (up, aloft)
• hold (to keep, support, from Old English healdan)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)