to-

See also Appendix:Variations of "to"

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old English tō-, te- (“apart, away”), from Proto-Germanic *twiz- (“apart, in two”, prefix), from Proto-Indo-European *dis- (“apart, asunder”), *dwis- (“two-ways, in twain”). Cognate with Dutch toe-, te-, German zu-, zer-, Latin dis- (“apart”). More at dis-.

Prefix

to-

1. (no longer productive, except dialectally) Prefix meaning "apart", "away", "asunder", "in pieces", or expressing separation, negation, or intensity.

Derived terms

• tobeat
• tobreak
• tobruise
• toburst
• tocleave
• todash
• todraw
• todrive
• tofall
• tofrush
• togo
• tomelt

Related terms

• all to

Etymology 2

From Middle English to (“to”), from Old English tō (“to”). More at to.

Prefix

to-

1. (rare, dialectal or no longer productive) Particle ocurring in various words meaning to, toward, at, or on (this).

   today

   tomorrow

   tonight

   together

Derived terms

• to-be
• to-bread
• to-come
• to-do
• tofore
• toyear

See also

[+] English words prefixed with to-

---

Old English

Alternative forms

• te-, ti-

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *twiz-, from Proto-Indo-European *dwis-. Cognate with Old Frisian ti-, te-, Old Saxon ti-, Old High German zi-, zir-, zar-, zur- (German zer-), Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐍃- (dis-), and with Latin dis-.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /toː/

Prefix

tō-

1. (as unstressed te-, ti- or stressed tō-) forming (mainly) verbs from verbs, with a sense of ‘in pieces, apart, asunder’, or with intensive force

   tefeallan, tōfeallan (“to fall apart”)

   titwǣman, tōtwǣman (“to separate”)

   tetorfian, tōtorfian (“to toss about”)

2. (stressed prefix) used to form substantives from other nouns

   tōtalu (“reputation”)

   tōsprǣċ (“conversation”)

Usage notes

• The prefix has two basic forms: stressed (tō-) and unstressed (te-, ti-). Originally, the unstressed formed verbs, and the stressed formed other derivatives (nouns, adverbs, etc). This distinction was blurred in later Old English where the stressed form came to be used for both