Meaning

noun a vertical structural member as a post or stake

noun a piano with a vertical sounding board

adjective in a vertical position; not sloping

originFrom Middle English upright, uppryght, upriht, from Old English upriht (“upright; erect”), from Proto-Germanic *upprehtaz, equivalent to up- + right. Cognate with Saterland Frisian apgjucht (“upright”), West Frisian oprjocht (“upright”), Dutch oprecht (“upright”), German Low German uprecht (“upright”), German aufrecht (“upright”), Swedish upprätt (“upright”), Icelandic uppréttur (“upright”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0