- upper (adj.)
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[upper 词源字典] - c. 1300, originally comparative of up (adj.). Similar formation in Middle Dutch upper, Dutch opper, Low German upper, Norwegian yppare. Upper hand "advantage" is late 15c., perhaps from wrestling (get the over-hand in the same sense is from early 14c.). Upperclassman is recorded from 1871.
Upper crust is attested from mid-15c. in reference to the top crust of a loaf of bread, 1836 in reference to society. Upper middle class (adj.) is recorded from 1835. Upper ten thousand (1844) was common mid-19c. for "wealthier and more aristocratic part of a large community;" hence uppertendom.[upper etymology, upper origin, 英语词源] - upper (n.)
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- "part of a shoe above the sole," 1789, from upper (adj.). Sense of "stimulant drug" is from 1968, agent noun from up (v.).