to
Translingual
English
Etymology
From Middle English to, from Old English tō, from Proto-Germanic *tō ~ *ta, from Proto-Indo-European *de ~ *do (“to”). Cognate with Scots tae, to (“to”), North Frisian to, tö, tu (“to”), Saterland Frisian tou (“to”), Low German to (“to”), Dutch toe (“to”), German zu (“to”), West Frisian ta (“to”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian ndaj (“towards”), Irish do (“to, for”), Breton da (“to, for”), Welsh i (“to, for”), Russian до (do, “to”). Doublet of too.
Pronunciation
Stressed
- (UK) IPA(key): /tuː/, [tʰu̟ː], enPR: to͞o
Audio (RP) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /tu/, [tʰu̟], enPR: to͞o
Audio (US) (file) - (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /tʉː/, [tʰʉː]
- Rhymes: -uː
- Homophones: too, two
Unstressed
Particle
to
- A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive.
- I want to leave.
- He asked me what to do.
- I have places to go and people to see.
- To err is human.
- Who am I to criticise? I've done worse things myself.
- 1709, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W. Lewis […], published 1711, OCLC 15810849:
- To err, is human; to forgive, divine.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
- To be, or not to be: that is the question: / […]
- 2010 July, Associated Press, headline :
- Odds are, BP to get new CEO this year
- As above, with the verb implied.
- "Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed."
- If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to.
- Used to indicate an obligation on the part of, or a directive given to, the subject.
- You are to go to the store and buy a bottle of milk.
- (expressing purpose) In order to.
- I went to the shops to buy some bread.
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Preposition
to
- Indicating destination: In the direction of, so as to arrive at.
- We are walking to the shop.
- 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
- Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000.
- Used to indicate the target or recipient of an action.
- I gave the book to him.
- I spoke to him earlier.
- He devoted himself to education.
- They drank to his health.
- Used to indicate result of action.
- His face was beaten to a pulp.
- Used to indicate a resulting feeling or emotion.
- To everyone's great relief, the tuneless carol singers finally ceased their warbling.
- Used after an adjective to indicate its application.
- similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.
- Denotes the end of a range.
- It takes 2 to 4 weeks to process typical applications.
- (obsolete) As a.
- With God to friend (with God as a friend); with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe); lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice); took her to wife (took her as a wife); was sold to slave (was sold as a slave).
- Used to indicate a ratio or comparison; compared to, as against.
- one to one = 1:1
- ten to one = 10:1.
- I have ten dollars to your four.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:
- The hoſt of Xerxes, which by fame is ſaid
To drinke the mightie Parthian Araris,
Was but a handfull to that we will haue.
- (arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.
- Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
- Three to the power of two is nine.
- Three to the second is nine.
- (time) Preceding the next hour.
- What's the time? – It's quarter to four in the afternoon (or 3:45 pm).
- Antonym: past
- (informal) Often used without the hour
- It’s quarter to (3:45, or 4:45, or whatever time ending in 45 would make the most sense)
- Used to describe what something consists of or contains.
- Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it.
- There's a lot of sense to what he says.
- The name has a nice ring to it.
- according to
- Our holiday did not go to plan.
- (Canada, Newfoundland, West Midlands (UK)) At.
- Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.
Usage notes
In the sense of "as a", it is a fossil word (Standard English only), found usually only in obsolete set phrases like: "to take a woman to wife", "to have someone to friend", "to have something to birthright" etc. In northern dialects, where it is rare but still in common use, it is often used in combination with with.
Derived terms
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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See also
Adverb
to (not comparable)
- (regionalism) Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.
- Please push the door to.
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 12”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], OCLC 855945:
- He went in his room, pushed the door to, without fastening the latch.
- (nautical) Into the wind.
- Misspelling of too.
Usage notes
The sense "toward a closed, touching or engaging position" is a regionalism found in various parts of the UK and US.
Translations
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See also
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:to.
References
- Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
Abinomn
Babine-Witsuwit'en
Babuza
References
- Naoyoshi Ogawa, English-Favorlang vocabulary (2003)
- S. Tsuchida, A Comparative Vocabulary of Austronesian Languages of Sinicized Ethnic Groups in Taiwan, Part I: Western Taiwan, Memoirs of the Faculty of Letters, No. 7 (1982)
Bahnar
Etymology
From Proto-Bahnaric *tɔʔ, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *tɔʔ. Cognates include Vietnamese đó, Khmer ដ៏ (dɑɑ).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɔː/
Bambara
Catalan
Etymology
First attested 1575, borrowed from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos)[1].
Noun
to m (plural tons)
References
- “to”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
Further reading
- “to” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “to” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “to” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈto]
audio (file)
Dalmatian
Danish
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : to Ordinal : anden | ||
Etymology 1
From Old Norse tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”).
The modern Danish form is a merger of the original East Old Norse accusative masculine twā and the nominative/accusative feminine twāʀ (West tvær). The neuter tū (West tvau) is preserved in the adverb itu.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈtˢoˀ]
Etymology 2
From Old Norse þvá (“wash”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈtˢoˀ]
Esperanto
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
- IPA(key): [to]
- Hyphenation: to
Finnish
Etymology
Abbreviation of torstai ("Thursday").
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈto/, [ˈt̪o̞]
- Rhymes: -o
- Syllabification(key): to
Friulian
Fula
References
- Oumar Bah, Dictionnaire Pular-Français, Avec un index français-pular, Webonary.org, SIL International, 2014.
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈtɔː]
Interjection
to
- interjection used to call dogs or cattle
- 1820, B. A. Fandiño, El Heráclito Español y Demócrito Gallego:
- Meu señor santo Tomé,
- tendes dous nomes nun só,
- sodes castrón polo mé,
- é sodes cán polo tó.
- My good sir Santo Tomé:
- You have two names in just one,
- You are a ram with the "mé"
- And a dog with the "tó"
- 1820, B. A. Fandiño, El Heráclito Español y Demócrito Gallego:
References
- “to” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “to” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “to” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Gun
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Noun
tò (plural tò lɛ́ or tò lẹ́)
Derived terms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Particle
tò
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Etymology 5
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From Proto-Gbe *-tó. Cognates include Fon tó, Saxwe Gbe otó, Adja eto, Ewe eto
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tó/
Hupa
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /to(ː)/
References
- The Phonology of the Hupa Language, part 1: The Individual Sounds, volume 5, by Roland Burrage Dixon, Samuel Alfred Barrett, Washington Matthews, Bill Ray (using the older orthography "tō")
- Victor Golla, Hupa Language Dictionary Second Edition (1996), page 105 (to)
Ido
Itene
References
- Čestmír Loukotka, Johannes Wilbert (editor), Classification of South American Indian Languages (1968, Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California), page(s) 162
Kongo
Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanai
Alternative forms
References
- Franz Boas, Pline Early Goddard, Vocabulary of an Athapascan dialect of the State of Washington, IJAL volume III, pages 39-45 (1924-1925)
Lashi
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɔ/
Latvian
Pronoun
to
- that; accusative singular masculine form of tas
- with that; instrumental singular masculine form of tas
- of that; genitive plural masculine form of tas
- that; accusative singular feminine form of tas
- with that; instrumental singular feminine form of tas
- of that; genitive plural feminine form of tas
Louisiana Creole French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /to/
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [tɔ]
Mauritian Creole
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English tā, tāhe, from Proto-West Germanic *taihā, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ (“toe”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɔː/
- (Northern) IPA(key): /taː/
Related terms
References
- “tō, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
From Old English tō, ta, te, from Proto-Germanic *tō, *ta.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /toː/
- (unstressed) IPA(key): /tu/, /tɔ/
References
- “tọ̄̆, verbal part.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
References
- “tọ̄̆, prep.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Alternative forms
References
- “tọ̄, adv.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
References
- “tọ̄, adv.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
References
- “tọ̄̆, conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3
Shortening of tone.
Mohawk
Norwegian Bokmål
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : to Ordinal : annen | ||
Etymology
From Old Norse tvá, accusative case of tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tuː/
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : to Ordinal : andre | ||
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tuː/
Etymology 1
From Old Norse tvá, accusative case of tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Derived terms
Noun
to f (definite singular toa, indefinite plural tør, definite plural tørne)
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text
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References
- “to” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *tō, *ta (“to”), from Proto-Indo-European *de, *do (“to”). Cognate with Old Saxon tō (“to”), Old High German zuo (“to”), Old Irish do.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /toː/
Preposition
tō
Old High German
Old Saxon
Etymology
Proto-Germanic *tō, whence also Old English tō and Old High German zuo
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *to, from Proto-Indo-European *tód.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɔ/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɔ
- Syllabification: to
Declension
Note: tem and temi are archaic forms
Conjunction
to
- then (in that case)
- "Wiem, co chcę zrobić." "To zrób". ― "I know what I want to do." "Then do it.
- Synonym: w takim razie
- then (used in if constructions)
- Jeśli to zrobisz, to daj mi znać. ― If you do this, then let me know.
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tu/
- Hyphenation: to
Selepet
References
- K. A. McElhanon, Selepet grammar (1972)
- William A. Foley, The Papuan Languages of New Guinea (1986, →ISBN, page 257
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tôː/
Slovene
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tóː/
Tocharian B
Tututni
References
- Victor Golla, Tututni (Oregon Athapaskan), International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 42:3 (July 1976), pages 217-227
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [tɔ˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [tɔ˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [tɔ˧˧]
Votic
Pronunciation
- (Luuditsa, Liivtšülä) IPA(key): /ˈto/, [ˈto]
- Rhymes: -o
- Hyphenation: to
References
- V. Hallap, E. Adler, S. Grünberg, M. Leppik (2012), “to”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2 edition, Tallinn
Welsh
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *toɣ (“covering”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /toː/
- Rhymes: -oː
Derived terms
- aderyn y to (“starling”)
- to bach (“circumflex”)
Westrobothnian
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : to Ordinal : æænn Adverbial : tweifållt Multiplier : tofål Collective : bå Fractional : haḷv | ||
Etymology 1
From Old Norse tvá, accusative of tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.
Alternative forms
- tjwo
- tjwå
Yola
Preposition
to
- Alternative form of ta
- 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:
- Coome to thee met.
- Come to thy meat.
-
References
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 31
Yoruba
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Verb
tò
Usage notes
- to before a direct object
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tò/
Verb
tò
- (Ekiti) to talk incessantly; to gossip
- Synonym: rò
- Ẹjọ́ kúwe é tò ― What are you gossiping about? (literally, “What matter are you talking incessantly about”)
Usage notes
- to before a direct object
Derived terms
- tojọ́
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tó/
Verb
tó
- (intransitive) to be enough, to be worthy, to be sufficient, to amount to
- (intransitive) to be comparable to
- gíga a rẹ̀ẹ́ tó erin ― His tallness is comparable to an elephant
Usage notes
- It is a common verb in Yoruba names affirming the worthiness of entities like the orisha. (Ex. Ògúntósìn (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ogun is worthy of being worshipped."”)).
Derived terms
- tóbẹ́ẹ̀
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tó/
Verb
tó
- to reach up to
- ọwọ́ mi kò tó o ― My hand does not reach it
- to be visible, to be comprehensible