English

keep up

To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    From Middle English kepen up (“to perpetuate, maintain, preserve”), equivalent to keep + up.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishkepen up “to perpetuate, maintain, preserve”
    • surface analysisEnglishkeep “To continue in (a course or mode of action); to not intermit or fall from; to uphold or maintain.”
    • surface analysisEnglishup “Away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of g…”

    Sources