upstream.
In a direction against the flow of a current or stream of fluid (typically water); upriver.
Meaning & usage
In a direction against the flow of a current or stream of fluid (typically water); upriver.
Occurring earlier than something else; (also, usually, especially) being an influence on something else; causing a consequence for something else.
Input entry is upstream of input validation in the runtime process.
Occurring earlier than something else; (also, usually, especially) being an influence on something else; causing a consequence for something else. Involving exploration and pre-production rather than refining and selling.
Occurring earlier than something else; (also, usually, especially) being an influence on something else; causing a consequence for something else. In the direction from the client to the server.
Occurring earlier than something else; (also, usually, especially) being an influence on something else; causing a consequence for something else. Maintained, owned, or associated with the original developers of the given software; in contrast to a modified version downstream.
The outage was caused by an upstream error in a payments library.
Occurring earlier than something else; (also, usually, especially) being an influence on something else; causing a consequence for something else. Towards the leading end (5′ end) of a DNA molecule.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English up- Proto-Indo-European *ser-? Proto-Indo-European *srew-der. Proto-Indo-European *srow-mo-s Proto-Germanic *straumaz Proto-West Germanic *straum Old English strēam Middle English strem English stream English upstream From up- + stream.
Against the current.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English up- Proto-Indo-European *ser-? Proto-Indo-European *srew-der. Proto-Indo-European *srow-mo-s Proto-Germanic *straumaz Proto-West Germanic *straum Old English strēam Middle English strem English stream English upstream From up- + stream.
To stream upward.
To have (a software library, patch, etc.) accepted by the original developers of the related software, so that they maintain and distribute it.
I'd be more than happy to upstream your patch.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English up- Proto-Indo-European *ser-? Proto-Indo-European *srew-der. Proto-Indo-European *srow-mo-s Proto-Germanic *straumaz Proto-West Germanic *straum Old English strēam Middle English strem English stream English upstream From up- + stream.
Part of the river towards the upstream direction.
The original developers or maintainers of software.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree English up- Proto-Indo-European *ser-? Proto-Indo-European *srew-der. Proto-Indo-European *srow-mo-s Proto-Germanic *straumaz Proto-West Germanic *straum Old English strēam Middle English strem English stream English upstream From up- + stream.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.