upbringing

/ˌʌpˈbrɪŋɪŋ/

/ˈʌpbrɪŋɪŋ/

Other forms: upbringings

Your upbringing is how you were raised as a child. You might have had a rough upbringing or a gentler one, but at least you made it this far.

Looking at the base “bring” in upbringing, we find a Germanic origin meaning "to carry." You might consider the "carry" idea as a way to remember the word, considering a parent "carries" a child to adulthood, providing what then becomes the child’s upbringing.

Definitions of upbringing

1. noun

   helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community
   synonyms: breeding, bringing up, fosterage, fostering, nurture, raising, rearing

   type of:

   acculturation, enculturation, socialisation, socialization

   the adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture
2. noun

   properties acquired during a person's formative years
   types:

   breeding, education, training

   the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior)

   nurture, raising, rearing

   the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child

   type of:

   heritage, inheritance

   any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors