Origin and history of upbraid

"plait, knit, weave, twist together," c. 1200, breidan, from Old English bregdan "move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (in wrestling), draw (a sword); bend, weave, knit, join together; change color, vary; scheme, feign, pretend" (class III strong verb, past tense brægd, past participle brogden), from Proto-Germanic *bregdanan "make sudden jerky movements from side to side" (compare Old Norse bregða "brandish, turn about, move quickly; braid;" Old Saxon bregdan "weave, braid;" Old Frisian brida "twitch (the eye);" Dutch breien "knit;" Old High German brettan "draw, weave, braid"), perhaps from a PIE root *bhrek- (compare Sanskrit bhurati "moves quickly," Lithuanian bruzdùs "fast"), but there are phonetic difficulties. In English the verb survives only in the narrow definition of "plait hair." Related: Braided; braiding.

"to or toward a point or place higher than another," Old English up, uppe, from Proto-Germanic *upp- "up," from PIE root *upo "under," also "up from under," hence also "over." As a preposition, from late Old English as "down onto, above and touching, sitting on, at the summit of;" from c. 1200 as "to a higher place."

Often used elliptically for go up, come up, rise up, etc. To be up to (something) "engaged in some activity" (typically reprehensible) is by 1837. Slang up the river "in jail" is recorded by 1891, originally in reference to Sing Sing, which is up the Hudson from New York City. To drive someone up the wall (1951) is from the notion of the behavior of lunatics or caged animals. Insulting retort up yours (scil. ass (n.2)) is attested by late 19c.

From the same Proto-Germanic source are Old Frisian, Old Saxon up "up, upward," Old Norse upp; Danish, Dutch op; Old High German uf, German auf "up;" Gothic iup "up, upward," uf "on, upon, under;" Old High German oba, German ob "over, above, on, upon."