Etymology

keep up

Today it means: To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling. Full definition →

Middle English kepen up
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited fromkepen up“to perpetuate, maintain, preserve”
  2. English todaykeep up

From Middle English kepen up (“to perpetuate, maintain, preserve”), equivalent to keep + up.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.