upbringing
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of upbringing
First recorded in 1475–85; gerund of upbring “to rear children” (obsolete since the 16th century)
Explanation
Your upbringing is how you were raised as a child. You might have had a rough upbringing or a gentler one, but at least you made it this far. Looking at the base “bring” in upbringing, we find a Germanic origin meaning "to carry." You might consider the "carry" idea as a way to remember the word, considering a parent "carries" a child to adulthood, providing what then becomes the child’s upbringing.
Vocabulary lists containing upbringing
"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Elijah of Buxton
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Upbringing: Miyasaki grew up in Sugar City, Idaho, a town of less than 1,500.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 15, 2016
Upbringing, environment and experience also play a part.
From Economist • Jan. 23, 2014
Religious Upbringing The woman, the youngest of five children, was raised in a deeply religious household, according to Mamoudou and another brother, Mamadou, who is in his early 50s.
From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2011
Upbringing: The name Mend�s-France, according to some who bear it, goes back to about 1300 when their forebears were driven from Portugal because they were Jews.
From Time Magazine Archive
Upbringing, up′bring-ing, n. the process of nourishing and training.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
