to
Part of speech: particle
conj
prep
Morphological type: simple
Topics: arithmetic
time
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.
Inflected forms:
form: ter
pos: particle
tags: alternative
form: t'
pos: particle
tags: alternative
form: 2
pos: particle
tags: alternative
form: ter
pos: conj
tags: alternative
form: t'
pos: conj
tags: alternative
form: 2
pos: conj
tags: alternative
form: ter
pos: prep
tags: alternative
form: t'
pos: prep
tags: alternative
form: 2
pos: prep
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive.
pos: particle
examples: 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.
Precisely to get away from you was why I did what I did.
I need some more books to read and friends to go partying with.
Those to avoid death ended up being exiled.
To err, is human; to forgive, divine.
To be, or not to be: that is the question: / […]
Odds are, BP to get new CEO this year
To that end, the home supporters were in good voice to begin with, but it was Newcastle who started the game in the ascendancy, with Barton putting a diving header over the top from Jose Enrique's cross.
gloss: As above, with the verb implied.
pos: particle
examples: "Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed."
If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to.
gloss: Used to indicate an obligation on the part of, or a directive given to, the subject.
pos: particle
examples: You are to go to the store and buy a bottle of milk.
gloss: In order to.
pos: conj
examples: I went to the shops to buy some bread.
gloss: In the direction of; towards.
pos: prep
examples: She looked to the heavens.
gloss: Indicating destination or final position: In the direction of, so as to arrive at or reach.
pos: prep
examples: We are walking to the shop.
The water came right to the top of this wall.
The coconut fell to the ground.
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.
gloss: Used to indicate the target or recipient of an action.
pos: prep
examples: I gave the book to him.
I spoke to him earlier.
He devoted himself to education.
They drank to his health.
gloss: So as to contact, press against, impact, etc.
pos: prep
examples: I fixed the notice to the wall.
Put your shoulder to the door.
To clutch/clasp/hold/press one's hanky to one's mouth/nose/forehead.
gloss: So as to become or reach: indicating a terminal state resulting from an action.
pos: prep
examples: His face was beaten to a pulp.
I sang my baby to sleep.
Whisk the mixture to a smooth consistency.
gloss: So as to bring about or elicit (an effect or outcome).
pos: prep
examples: He made several bad-taste jokes to groans from the audience.
I tried complaining, but it was to no effect.
To everyone's great relief, the tuneless carol singers finally ceased their warbling.
gloss: Used after an adjective to indicate its application.
pos: prep
examples: similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.
gloss: Indicating a degree or level reached.
pos: prep
examples: It was to a large extent true.
We manufacture these parts to a very high tolerance.
This gauge is accurate to a second.
My car does 25 miles to the gallon.
I started out by wrapping the first thread around a ruler for 1 inch and found that it had 24 wraps to the inch.
gloss: Used to describe what something consists of or contains.
pos: prep
examples: 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.
There are 100 pence to the pound.
gloss: Denotes the end of a range.
pos: prep
examples: It takes 2 to 4 weeks to process typical applications.
gloss: As a.
pos: prep
tags: obsolete
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).
gloss: Used to indicate a ratio or comparison; compared to, as against.
pos: prep
examples: one to one = 1:1
ten to one = 10:1.
I have ten dollars to your four.
The odds on that horse are seven to two.
The hoſt of Xerxes, which by fame is ſaid
To drinke the mightie Parthian Araris,
Was but a handfull to that we will haue.
In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three.
gloss: Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.
pos: prep
examples: Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
Three to the power of two is nine.
Three to the second is nine.
gloss: Preceding (the stated hour).
pos: prep
examples: What's the time? – It's quarter to four in the afternoon (or 3:45 pm).
gloss: Preceding (the stated hour).
pos: prep
tags: informal
examples: It’s quarter to (3:45, or 4:45, or whatever time ending in 45 would make the most sense)
gloss: According to.
pos: prep
examples: Our holiday did not go to plan.
gloss: At.
pos: prep
tags: Canada
Newfoundland
Wales
examples: Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.
Where are you to?
"What's that to you?" said Trevool, rather sharply, "worn't I to a berrin? […]
gloss: 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.
pos: prep
Related words: at
Derived words: finna
gonna
gotta
hafta
oughta
supposta
usta
wanna
hand-to-mouth
hitherto
how-to
lean-to
many-to-many
many-to-one
nice-to-have
one-to-many
one-to-one
onto
talking-to
telling-to
thereto
thitherto
to a hair
to a man
to and fro
to-be
tocome
to-come
today
to-do
to-draw
to hand
to spare
toward
unto
untoward
uptodate
whereto
whitherto
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: لِ
roman: li
lang: Catalan
word: a
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 給 /给
roman: gěi
lang: Dutch
word: aan
lang: Esperanto
word: al
lang: French
word: à
lang: Galician
word: a
lang: Hungarian
word: -nak
lang: Hungarian
word: -nek
lang: Irish
word: do
lang: Japanese
word: ...に
roman: ...-ni
lang: Latin
word: ad
lang: Norwegian
word: til
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: til
lang: Norwegian Nynorsk
word: til
lang: Persian
word: به
roman: be
lang: Portuguese
word: a
lang: Portuguese
word: para
lang: Scots
word: tae
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: do
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: gu
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: ri
lang: Spanish
word: a
lang: Swedish
word: till
lang: Swedish
word: åt
lang: Tamil
word: -ஐ
roman: -ai
lang: Telugu
word: -కి
roman: -ki
lang: Telugu
word: -కు
roman: -ku
lang: Venetan
word: a
lang: Vietnamese
word: cho
lang: Finnish
word: -ksi
lang: Hebrew
word: עַד
lang: Tamil
word: -கு
roman: -ku
lang: Tamil
word: வரை
roman: varai
lang: Dutch
word: tegen
lang: Dutch
word: met
lang: Finnish
word: -lle
lang: French
word: au
lang: French
word: envers
lang: French
word: de
lang: German
word: zu
lang: Greek
word: με
roman: me
lang: Hindi
word: से
roman: se
lang: Italian
word: a
lang: Maltese
word: għal
lang: Persian
word: بِه
roman: be
lang: Polish
word: do
lang: Portuguese
word: com
lang: Romanian
word: cu
lang: Swedish
word: med
lang: Swedish
word: mot
lang: Tamil
word: -இடம்
roman: -iṭam
lang: Bashkir
word: ...-ға
roman: ...-ğa
lang: Bashkir
word: ...-гә
roman: ...-gə
lang: Bashkir
word: ...-ҡа
roman: ...-qa
lang: Bashkir
word: ...-кә
roman: ...-kə
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 比
roman: bǐ
lang: Czech
word: ku
lang: Danish
word: til
lang: French
word: contre
lang: Greek
word: προς
roman: pros
lang: Indonesian
word: banding
lang: Irish
word: in aghaidh
lang: Irish
word: i
lang: Italian
word: per
lang: Japanese
word: に
roman: ni
lang: Japanese
word: へ
roman: e
lang: Latgalian
word: pret
lang: Latin
word: et
lang: Latvian
word: pret
lang: Malay
word: nisbah
lang: Romanian
word: la
lang: Russian
word: к
roman: k
lang: Slovak
word: k
lang: Slovene
word: proti
lang: Ukrainian
word: до
roman: do
lang: Dutch
word: tot
lang: Finnish
word: potenssiin
lang: French
word: à la
lang: Galician
word: á
lang: German
word: hoch
lang: Greek
word: στην
roman: stin
lang: Hebrew
word: ב־
roman: b-
lang: Italian
word: alla
lang: Polish
word: do potęgi
lang: Russian
word: в
roman: v
lang: Slovak
word: na
lang: Swedish
word: upphöjt till
lang: Tamil
word: -இருந்து
roman: -iruntu
lang: Ukrainian
word: в
roman: v
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 差
lang: Dutch
word: voor
lang: Estonian
word: enne
lang: Finnish
word: vaille
lang: French
word: moins
lang: Georgian
word: უკლია
roman: uḳlia
lang: German
word: vor
lang: Greek
word: παρά
roman: pará
lang: Hindi
word: तक
roman: tak
lang: Indonesian
word: kurang
lang: Ingrian
word: vaijaa
lang: Irish
word: chun
lang: Irish
word: go dtí
lang: Polish
word: za
lang: Russian
word: без
roman: bez
lang: Spanish
word: menos
lang: Spanish
word: para
lang: Swedish
word: i
lang: Tamil
word: -ஆக
roman: -āka
lang: Venetan
word: avanti
lang: Vietnamese
word: kém