Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

upon

/əˈpɔn/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.12 in modern English

Syllables
up-on
IPA
/əˈpɔn/
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

prep

alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Germanic *ub Proto-Germanic *upp Proto-West Germanic *upp Old English upp Proto-Indo-European *h₂en-der. Proto-Germanic *an Proto-West Germanic *ana Old English on Old English uppan Middle English upon English upon From Middle English upon, uppon, uppen, from Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up (“adverb”) + on (“preposition”). Cognate with Old Saxon uppan (“upon”), Old High German ūfan, ūffan (“upon”), Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish uppå (“up on, upon”) (thence Swedish på), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /əˈpɔn/
  • British English: /əˈpɒn/

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce upon?
The recorded pronunciation is /əˈpɔn/.
What does upon mean?
alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.
Where does upon come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce upon

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “upon”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/əˈpɔn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “upon”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “upon” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.