to
Language: English
Part of speech: prep
Pronunciation: enpr: to͞o
ipa: /tuː/
ipa: [tu̟ː]
ipa: [tʰʊw]
ipa: /tiː/
ipa: [tʰʉw]
ipa: [tʰu̟(ː)]
ipa: [t(ʰ)u̟ː]
ipa: [tʰʉː]
homophone: too
homophone: two
rhymes: -uː
ipa: /tə/
note: before a consonant
ipa: /tʊ/
note: before a consonant
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾə]
ipa: /tɪ/
ipa: /tʊ/
ipa: /tu(ː)/
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: /tɪv/
ipa: [t(ʰ)ʉw]
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: [tu̟]
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾʊ(w)]
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾu̟]
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: [tu̟(ː)]
note: Indic, always
ipa: /ʈʊ/
Forms: form: ter
form: t'
form: 2
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, te (“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.
Senses: examples: text: She looked to the heavens.
glosses: In the direction of; towards.
examples: text: We are walking to the shop.
text: The water came right to the top of this wall.
text: The coconut fell to the ground.
text: 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.
ref: 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
glosses: Indicating destination or final position: In the direction of, so as to arrive at or reach.
examples: text: I gave the book to him.
text: I spoke to him earlier.
text: He devoted himself to education.
text: They drank to his health.
glosses: Used to indicate the target or recipient of an action.
examples: text: I fixed the notice to the wall.
text: Put your shoulder to the door.
text: To clutch/clasp/hold/press one's hanky to one's mouth/nose/forehead.
glosses: So as to contact, press against, impact, etc.
examples: text: His face was beaten to a pulp.
text: I sang my baby to sleep.
text: Whisk the mixture to a smooth consistency.
glosses: So as to become or reach: indicating a terminal state resulting from an action.
examples: text: He made several bad-taste jokes to groans from the audience.
text: I tried complaining, but it was to no effect.
text: To everyone's great relief, the tuneless carol singers finally ceased their warbling.
glosses: So as to bring about or elicit (an effect or outcome).
examples: text: similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.
glosses: Used after an adjective to indicate its application.
examples: text: It was to a large extent true.
text: We manufacture these parts to a very high tolerance.
text: This gauge is accurate to a second.
text: My car dos 25 miles to the gallon.
glosses: Indicating a degree or level reached.
examples: text: Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it.
text: There's a lot of sense to what he says.
text: The name has a nice ring to it.
text: There are 100 pence to the pound.
glosses: Used to describe what something consists of or contains.
examples: text: It takes 2 to 4 weeks to process typical applications.
glosses: Denotes the end of a range.
examples: 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).
glosses: As a.
examples: text: one to one = 1:1
text: ten to one = 10:1.
text: I have ten dollars to your four.
text: The odds on that horse are seven to two.
text: The hoſt of Xerxes, which by fame is ſaid
To drinke the mightie Parthian Araris,
Was but a handfull to that we will haue.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene iii:
text: In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three.
ref: 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: Used to indicate a ratio or comparison; compared to, as against.
examples: text: Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
text: Three to the power of two is nine.
text: Three to the second is nine.
topics: arithmetic
glosses: Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.
examples: text: What's the time? – It's quarter to four in the afternoon (or 3:45 pm).
topics: time
antonyms: past
glosses: Preceding (the stated hour).
examples: It’s quarter to (3:45, or 4:45, or whatever time ending in 45 would make the most sense)
topics: time
antonyms: past
glosses: Preceding (the stated hour).
With implied hour.
examples: text: Our holiday did not go to plan.
glosses: According to.
examples: text: Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.
text: Where are you to?
text: "What's that to you?" said Trevool, rather sharply, "worn't I to a berrin? […]
ref: 1867, Cornish Tales, in prose and verse by various authors, page 33:
qualifier: Cornwall (UK); West Midlands (UK); Cornwall (UK); West Midlands (UK)
glosses: At.
glosses: Used more-or-less idiomatically with various verbs: keep to the left, agree to the proposal, attend to the matter, etc. See the individual entries.
Derived terms: lean-to
many-to-many
many-to-one
one-to-many
one-to-one
to a hair
to a man
to and fro
to hand
to spare
Related terms: at