on high

English

WOTD – 2 November 2021

Etymology

From Middle English on heigh, on an heigh (“in or into heaven; up to heaven”) [and other forms], from Old English on hēagum (“on high”); hēagum is an inflected form of hēah (“high; tall”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“height; to elevate”). The English word is equivalent to on +‎ high. Compare Dutch omhoog (“upwards, on high”), West Frisian omheech (“upwards”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒn ˈhaɪ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɑn ˈhaɪ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Prepositional phrase

on high

1. To a high position; or up in, or to, the sky; above.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) ahigh, aloft

   • 1796–1798 (date written; published 1802), Robert Southey, “The Inchcape Rock”, in The Poetical Works of Robert Southey. […], volume VI, London: […] [Andrew Spottiswoode] for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 137:

     So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky, / They cannot see the Sun on high; / The wind hath blown a gale all day, / At evening it hath died away.

   • c. 1920s–1930s, Elizabeth Fleming, “The Ploughman”, in School Journal, volume 32, Wellington, New Zealand: School Publications Branch, Department of Education, published 1938, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 112:

     His [a horse's] back would be so glossy, / His sides so smooth and brown, / I'd have to hold his collar / To keep from slipping down! / And jogging on the roadway, / The people passing by / Would turn to smile at Bonny / With me set up on high.

2. (specifically, chiefly Christianity, literary) Up in, or to, Heaven.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 113:5, column 1:

     Who is like vnto the Lord our God: who dwelleth on high: […]

   • 1687, John Dryden, “A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, 1687”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 271:

     The trumpet ſhall be heard on high, / The dead ſhall live, the living die, / And Muſic ſhall untune the ſky.

3. (humorous) In authority, influence, or power.

   According to those on high, taxes need to increase again.

Derived terms

• from on high

Translations

to a high position; or up in, or to, the sky — see also above,‎ aloft

• Dutch: omhoog (nl)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὕψι (húpsi), ὑψοῦ (hupsoû)

• Ido: supre (io)
• Irish: suas
• Latin: altē (la)
• Pipil: ajku
• Russian: свысока́ (ru) (svysoká) (dated)
• Sanskrit: बृहत् (sa) (bṛhat)
• Tamil: ஏற (ta) (ēṟa)

up in, or to, Heaven

• Dutch: omhoog (nl)
• Swedish: i höjden (sv)

(humorous) in authority, influence or power

Further reading

• “on high, phrase” under “high, adj. and n.²”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2021.
• “on high, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.