'pre-uprising' originates from the prefix 'pre-' (from Latin, specifically the word 'prae') meaning 'before', combined with 'uprising' (from Old English elements 'up-' + 'rīsan'/'risan'), where 'up-' meant 'up(ward)' and 'rīsan' meant 'to rise'.

'pre-uprising' formed by joining the productive English prefix 'pre-' with the noun 'uprising' (Middle English from Old English 'uprisan' meaning 'to rise up'); over time English compounds like this became standard for describing temporal relations (e.g., 'pre-war', 'pre-election'), leading to the modern compound 'pre-uprising'.

Initially the components meant 'before' (pre-) and 'rising/upward movement' (uprising); the compound's meaning stabilized as 'the time or conditions before an uprising' and is used descriptively in that sense.