different between onhold vs uphold

English

Etymology

From Middle English anhealden (“to retain”), from Old English onhealdan, anhealdan (“to hold, keep”), equivalent to on- +? hold. Cognate with Saterland Frisian anhoolde (“to stop, persist”), West Frisian oanhâlde (“to apprehend, arrest, detain”), Dutch aanhouden (“to persist, continue, retain”) and onthouden (“to withhold, retain”), German anhalten (“to stop, last, persist”) and enthalten (“to contain, include”).

Verb

onhold (third-person singular simple present onholds, present participle onholding, simple past onheld, past participle onheld or onholden)

1. (transitive, rare) To hold on (to).
   • 1882, Keningale Robert Cook, The king of Kent:

     She leaped and trembled; still onheld his gripe, And gnawed her waning life.

   • 2008, An Apple A day:

     Because of economic downturn, I onhold my dream first and use my lovely office's notebook IBM Thinkpad T60P as my best friend.

2. (intransitive, rare) To hold on.
   • 1919, Middlesbrough (England). Education Committee, Proceedings:

     Resolved, That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Secondary Committee onheld 8 July, 1918, be and they are hereby confirmed.

Derived terms

• onholding

Anagrams

• hold on

English

Etymology

From Middle English upholden, equivalent to up- +? hold. Compare Dutch ophouden (“to stop, cease, hold up”), German aufhalten (“to stop, halt, detain”). Compare also Middle Low German upholt, Old Norse upphald (“uphold, support”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??p?hold/

Verb

uphold (third-person singular simple present upholds, present participle upholding, simple past upheld, past participle upheld or (archaic) upholden)

1. To hold up; to lift on high; to elevate.
2. To keep erect; to support; to sustain; to keep from falling
3. To support by approval or encouragement, to confirm (something which has been questioned)
   • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 18:

     but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other.

Derived terms

• upholdatory (rare, obsolete, nonce word)

Translations

References

• uphold in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Notes:

Anagrams

• hold up, hold-up, holdup