upper

adj. 上面的，上部的；较高的

n. (Upper)人名；(英)厄珀

中文词源

upper 上面的，上层的

来自up的比较级。

upper (adj.): 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 (n.): "part of a shoe above the sole," 1789, from upper (adj.). Sense of "stimulant drug" is from 1968, agent noun from up (v.).

2. Many of the British upper classes are no longer very rich.: 英国的上流社会许多人已不再富得流油。

3. They have purged thousands from the upper levels of the civil service.: 他们从上层文职部门清除了上千名公务员。

5. I then went up to Lancaster University and got an upper second.: 后来，我考上了兰开斯特大学，获得了二级甲等学位。