Contextualizebeta

to

particle
/tuː//tu̟ː/UK/tʰu̟(ː)/US/t(ʰ)u̟ː/CA/t̪oː//təʊ/UK/toʊ/US

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.

  1. borrowed from तो

Definitions

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.
  4. ›+ 29 more definitions

    1. In order to.

      • I went to the shops to buy some bread.

    2. In the direction of

      In the direction of; towards.

      • She looked to the heavens.

    3. Indicating destination or final position

      Indicating destination or final position: In the direction of, so as to arrive at or reach.

      • We are walking to the shop.
      • The water came right to the top of this wall.
      • The coconut fell to the ground.

    4. 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.

    5. So as to contact, press against, impact, etc.

      • 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.

    6. So as to become or reach

      So as to become or reach: indicating a terminal state resulting from an action.

      • His face was beaten to a pulp.
      • I sang my baby to sleep.
      • Whisk the mixture to a smooth consistency.

    7. So as to bring about or elicit (an effect or outcome).

      • 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.

    8. 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.

    9. Indicating a degree or level reached.

      • It was to a large extent true.
      • We manufacture these parts to a very high tolerance.
      • This gauge is accurate to a second.

    10. 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.

    11. Denotes the end of a range.

      • It takes 2 to 4 weeks to process typical applications.

    12. 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).

    13. Used to indicate a ratio or comparison

      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.

    14. Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following…

      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.

    15. Preceding (the stated hour).

      • What's the time? – It's quarter to four in the afternoon (or 3:45 pm).

    16. According to.

      • Our holiday did not go to plan.

    17. At.

      • 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? […]

    18. Used more-or-less idiomatically with various verbs

      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.

    19. Toward a closed, touching, or engaging position.

      • Please push the door to.
      • He went in his room, pushed the door to, without fastening the latch.
      • Aware of the loud beating of my own heart I pulled the door to against the increasing rain.

    20. Into the wind.

    21. Misspelling of too.

    22. A filler word common amongst urban Indians.

      • I am to so bored right now.

    23. Abbreviation of Toronto

      Abbreviation of Toronto: the largest city in Ontario and in Canada.

    24. Abbreviation of Tocantins

      Abbreviation of Tocantins: a state of Brazil.

    25. Initialism of time-out.

    26. Initialism of turnover.

    27. Initialism of tournament organizer.

    28. to organize a tournament, to be a TO

      • TOing

    29. A surname.

The neighborhood

Derived

finna, gonna, gotta, hafta, oughta, supposta, usta, wanna, 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

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for to. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA