You can picture upgrade as taking something up one step on a ladder of levels — the same thing, but now at a higher grade: newer, faster, better than the version below it.
From the word’s history
A transparent compound: up + grade. 'Grade' means a level or step (from Latin gradus 'step, degree'), so to upgrade is literally to move up a step in level — exactly the core image.
透明的組合字：up（往上）+ grade（等級、級距，源自拉丁文 gradus「步、階」）。所以 upgrade 字面就是「往上跨一階」，正好對上核心畫面。
transparent English compound up + grade; grade < Latin gradus 'step' (etymonline)
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料9 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
upgradenoun/ˈʌp.ɡɹeɪd/
- 1
An upward grade or slope.
- The Worthens sighed with relief as the engine began its night of upgrade chugging.
- 2
An improved component or replacement item, usually applied to technology.
- Near-synonym: option
- With my phone company, I get a free upgrade every twelve months if I keep topping up 10 pounds a month.
- 3
An improvement.
- The remarried couples among my friends often joke that their divorce and remarriage amounted to an upgrade.
- "When we're finished in 2024, this upgrade programme will provide a much-improved railway between London Waterloo and Portsmouth," said NR's Wessex Route Director Mark Killick.
upgradeverb/əpˈɡɹeɪd/
- 1
To improve, usually applied to technology, generally by complete replacement of one or more components.
- When you upgrade your standard of living, you become addicted to that standard of living.
- 2
To replace with something better.
- I had to upgrade my anti-virus software to protect my computer from the newer threats.
- 3
To improve the equipment or furnishings of or services rendered to.
- They upgraded him to the latest model.
- They were upgraded to first class.
- 4
To improve in condition or status.
- She upgraded to a more successful husband.
- 5
computingengineeringmathematicsTo replace a program with a later version of itself, a version having a higher version number or marketed under a more recent product name.
- She waited a long time to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, hoping the worst bugs would be worked out before she took the plunge.
- She waited a long time to upgrade Windows, hoping the worst bugs would be worked out before she took the plunge.
upgradeadv
- 1
Up a slope or grade.
- Men fell out, worn-out, and there were sunstroke cases. It was an eight-mile march upgrade.
- Northbound trains originating near the Ohio River faced a 26-mile climb upgrade to Flushing.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。