ˌupside ˈdown, adv., n., and a.
Forms: α. 4–5 up (5 upe, uppe) so doun (don, doune; 4 north. up swa doune), 4–6 up so down (5–6 downe). β. 4 upsa-, 5 opsadoun; 4–6 upsedoun (5 -done), 5–6 -downe. γ. 6 up set doune; up (uppe) set (sette) downe. δ. 6 upsyde downe, upside doune (downe), 6– upside down. ε. 6–7 vpsidown(e, 6 upsidowne, 6 upsy(e)downe, 6 (9) upsydown.
[Originally up so (northern swa) doun, frequently reduced to upsa-, upse-, and subsequently altered to upset and upside down, in the endeavour to make the phrase more intelligible. The use of so is peculiar, the only appropriate sense being that of ‘as if’ (so adv. 17 c), and the phrase has no parallel in the cognate languages. It is possible that up to doun, occurring in R. Glouc. 6831 (with up so doun as a later variant) may be the more original form.]
A. adv.
1. So that the upper part or surface becomes the under or lower. Freq. in phr. to turn upside down; also in pred. use = inverted, overturned.
| α 13.. Seuyn Sages (W.) 788 The cradel and the child thai found Up so doun upon the ground. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7230 Þarfor it es ryght and resoune, Þat þai be turned up-swa-doune. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 67 Hise iȝen in his heed weren turned vp so doun. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 275 The lond aboute a roote is to be moued Al vpsodoun. c 1500 Melusine v. 25 Raymondyn..wold haue smytte hym betwene the foure legges, For he leye vpsodounne the bely vpward. 1532 G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. (1534) 48 b, He also must..turne vp so downe and styr the grounde. 1538 Elyot Dict., Procello,..to turn vp so downe. |
| β 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxi. 12 He turnyde vpsadoun [1388 vpsedoun] the bordis of chaungeris. c 1400 Brut i. 253 Wherwiþ þe gode man awoke..and turnede his body opsadoun. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 512/2 Upsedowne,..eversus, subversus. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. Froiss. I. 356 He toke kyng Dampeter by the legge and turned hym vpsedowne. |
| γ c 1520 Barclay Jugurth (1557) 18 Transuersed or turned vp set downe. 1532 G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. 55 Lyke this greke lettre, υ, turned vp set downe. |
| δ c 1490 Liber Pluscardensis xi. xi. (Bodl. MS.), Iustice makis ryche bath realme & ceteys,..Quhar lak of law bryngis all this vp sid doun [v.r. vpsadon]. 1535 Coverdale Judg. vii. 13 Whan it came to the tente, it..ouerthrew it, and turned it vpsyde downe. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 2307/2 The wagon also beyng cast vpsidedowne. 1600 Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 155 Deepely deluing into the earth, they turne vpside downe the foundations of houses. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. v. 66 Every Fortnight..turn all the Barrels,..turn them upside down. 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard'ner i. x. 289 Stick into the Ground a Stake.., put at Top of it a Mug upside down. c 1791 Encycl. Brit. (1797) VII. 374/1 Others think, that the waters of the sea..turned the whole surface of the earth upside down. 1841 Mrs. Mozley Lost Brooch II. xxi. 154 They will come and search the house, and all our things will be turned upside down. 1889 Jerome Three Men in Boat xv, We..decided that the bottom was the top, and set to work to fix it upside⁓down. |
| ε 1569 W. Hubbard Ceyx & Alcione A vij, The boisterous windes..our ship on Seas did tosse.., Vntill it was turnd upsidowne. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 4 In his lap a masse of coyne he told, And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye. 1848 Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xiv. 131 [The sand-glass] topples over upsy-down and runs back again. |
2. fig. In, or into, a state of overthrow, reversal, or disorder. Chiefly with
turn.
| α c 1327 Pol. Songs (Camden) 335 Thus is the ordre of kniht turned up-so-doun. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. pr. iii. 156 How fer fro þe soþe and how vp so doun is þis þing þat we seyn. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 282 Al up so doun my joie it casteth. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 151 The wourld is tournyd almoost up so doun. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour vi. 9 Atte the yongest doughtres hous it was turned up-so-doun, and alle unthrifti. 1508 Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. vi. Wks. (1876) 12 The wounde of a mannes conscyence..stereth vpsodowne the memory. 1559 Mirr. Mag. B j, By reason kynge Richarde,..By synister aduyse, had tourned all vpsodowne. |
| β 13.. Minor Poems Vernon MS. lv. 103 For he may turne kuyndes vpsedoun, Þat alle kuyndes made of nouȝt. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 17064, I ha tournd the vp-se-doun..With my trouble and with my wo. ? 1450 in 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 279/2 Who but antichrist coude turne the treuthe upsedone? 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 625 To chaunge all things, and tourne the world upsedowne. |
| γ 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys 135 A foole..tournynge the lawes vp set downe By vyle rewardes. 1540 Morysine Vives's Introd. Wysd. B iij b, Many [things]..have loste their ryghte estimation and are chaunged uppe sette downe. 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 89 They disquiet and turne the earth upset downe. |
| δ 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxlv[i]. 9 As for the waye of y⊇ vngodly, he turneth it vpsyde downe. 1579 J. Knewstub Confut. Ep. Ded. *4 b, H. N. turneth religion vp side downe, and buildeth heauen heere vpon earth. 1627 H. Lesly Serm. bef. Majesty 23 Our nature..must be turned up-side⁓downe, cast into a new mould. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 305 ¶15 These young Machiavils will, in a little time, turn their College upside-down with Plots and Stratagems. 1817 Keatinge Trav. I. 33 The walls of this town exemplify to us..the world turned upside down. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! iv, Mr. Frank..would have..turned her poor little flighty brains upside down for ever. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. xxx, Why, your liver, man, is upside down. Did you take that medicine? |
| ε 1549 Latimer Fifth Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 137 Iosias..tourned al vpsydowne, he would suffer no Idolatrye to stand. 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 73 Your delicacy would haply have delighted your self in overturning ye proverbe upsyedowne. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 19 By remaining full of French soldiers all things were turned vpsidowne. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly II. 254 It's a story without an end, it's a story told upsy-down. |
† B. n. An overturning.
Obs.| 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 84 A fewe resolute Aphorismes; that..roundly determine all with an Vpsy-downe. No reformation without an Vpsy-downe. |
C. adj. Turned upside down; inverted.
Written with hyphen (
upside-down) or as one word.
| 1866 G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. 84 Twisted runes, upside⁓down runes, and such like. 1882 Besant All Sorts xxviii, The same upsydown, topsy-turvy, one-sided..perverseness. 1883 W. S. Gilbert Foggerty's Fairy, etc. (1890) 238 She was..an industrious little girl, and, as far as I could judge by her upside-down reflection, neat in her dress. |
Hence
ˈupside-ˌdownism.
| 1861 F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland vii. (1867) 106 The Demons of Misrule and Upside-downism. |