to-

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "to"

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English to-, from Old English tō-, te- (“apart, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *tuʀ-, *twiʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *twiz- (“apart, in two”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwis- (“two-ways, in twain”).

Prefix[edit]

to-

  1. (no longer productive) apart, away, asunder, in pieces; expressing separation, negation, or intensity.[1]
    2. (no longer productive) Parting: forming verbs that involve cleaving, breaking, or sundering.
      tocrack is to crack, togrind is to grind or break to pieces, torend is to rend to pieces
    4. (no longer productive) To do excessively.
      tobeat is to beat excessively, topinch is to pinch severely, toquake is to quake or tremble exceedingly, toruffle is to ruffle excessively
    6. (no longer productive) Completely.
      tobruise is to completely beat or batter, toreave is to remove completely, torob is to steal completely, toshend is to ruin completely
    8. (no longer productive) Moving.
      tolug is to pull about, towind is to whirl around
Derived terms[edit]
English terms prefixed with to-
terms derived from parting
terms derived from excessively
terms derived from completely
terms derived from moving
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From to.

Prefix[edit]

to-

  1. Used in various ways to indicate temporality:
    2. Current, the current form of the suffixed time. Forming nouns.
      today as a current day or date, tonight as the nighttime of the current day, tosol as the current sol (Martian day)
    4. On (this) time, which is a fixed point in time. Forming adverbs.
      today as on the current day or date, tomorrow as on the day after the present day, tomorn as on the morning
    6. During the suffixed time. Forming adverbs.
      today as the day which is currently happening, tonight as during the evening of today, toyear as during the year
    8. Of, as characteristic of the suffixed time period. Forming adverbs and adjectives.
      today as current and up to date, together as coherent and well-organized
    10. At, at the suffixed time. Forming an unfixed point in time, rather than a duration.
      tomorrow as at some point in the future, tofall as the end or decline, together as at the same time, in the same place
  3. Adding, additional in quantity.
    to-bread is an extra loaf added by bakers to every dozen, to-name is a name added to another name
  5. Toward in direction or location.
    to-draw is a resort to which one is drawn, tofall is a shed or building with a roof formed in a single slope with the top resting against the wall, together is to gather into one place or thing
Derived terms[edit]
terms derived from current
terms derived from then
terms derived from during
terms derived from adding
terms derived from of
terms derived from toward
terms derived from at

References[edit]

“to-”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

  1. ^ Whitney, The Century dictionary and cyclopedia, to-

See also[edit]

English terms prefixed with to-

Anagrams[edit]

Classical Nahuatl[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Prefix[edit]

to-

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Etymology 1[edit]

  1. (personal prefix, possessive) Used to form the first-person plural possessive of nouns: our. Can combine with relational words to form relational adverbs.
    nāntzintli (“mother”) → tonāntzin (“our mother”)
    calli (“house”) → tocal (“our house”)
    -tlōc (“beside”) → totlōc (“beside us”)

Derived terms[edit]

Category Classical Nahuatl nouns prefixed with to- not found

Etymology 2[edit]

  1. (personal prefix, reflexive) Used to form the first-person plural reflexive of transitive verbs: ourselves. May also indicate reciprocity between the 1st person party: we ____ each other. For certain verbs, this imparts an intransitive sense rather than a strictly reflexive one.
    titītza (“to stretch something”) → titotitītzah (“We stretch (ourselves)”)
    itta (“to see something”) → titottah (“We see ourselves, We look at each other”)
    tolīnia (“to bother someone, to make suffer”) → titotolīniah (“We suffer, We are bothered”)

Usage notes[edit]

As with the other reflexive prefixes and tla-, this prefixes causes deletion of initial i in verbs such as itta or ilpia, with the exception of verbs beginning with ih- such as ihquiti.

See also[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From to (“in the direction of”), from Old English tō.

Alternative forms[edit]

Prefix[edit]

to-

  2. Affixed to verbs and verb inflections to impart a sense of motion, directionality and/or extension.
  3. Affixed to adjectives, adverbs and prepositions to impart a sense of approach, extension and/or proximity.
  4. (rare) Affixed to nouns to impart a sense of motion, directionality and/or extension.
Derived terms[edit]
Verbs and inflections formed with to-
Adjectives, adverbs and prepositions formed with to-
Nouns formed with to-
Descendants[edit]
  • English: to-

References[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old English tō-, te- (“apart, asunder”).

Alternative forms[edit]

Prefix[edit]

to-

  2. Appended to verbs and nouns to impart a sense of separation and/or departure.
  3. Appended to verbs and nouns to intensify or emphasise the meaning.
Derived terms[edit]
Verbs and inflections formed with to-
Nouns formed with to-
Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Old English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈtoː/ (as a nominal prefix)
  • IPA(key): /toː/ (as a verbal prefix)

Prefix[edit]

tō-

  1. verbal prefix 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. used to form substantives from other nouns
    tōtalu ― reputation
    tōsprǣċ ― conversation

Usage notes[edit]

  • 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.

Derived terms[edit]

Old English terms prefixed with to-

Old Irish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • do- (pretonic form)

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Celtic *to-.

Prefix[edit]

to- (pretonic do-)

  1. prefix used to create verbs and associated verbal nouns

Usage notes[edit]

  • Verbs whose deuterotonic forms begin with this prefix followed by a stressed vowel are permitted to use prototonic forms even when normally a deuterotonic form would be used (i.e. in independent or relative position). For example:
    • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 30d11
      Tánicc aimser mo idbarte-se. ― The time of offering me has come. (preterite of do·icc: prototonic tánicc used instead of deuterotonic do·ánicc)

Derived terms[edit]

Old Irish terms prefixed with to-

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *tō.

Prefix[edit]

to-

  1. Creates words with a sense of ‘towards, to, against’
    tōdōn (“to add; to close”)
    tōheftian (“to fix”)
    tōhlinon (“to lean against”)
    tōhnēgian (“to neigh towards”)
    tōrūnon (“to whisper”)
    tōsprekan (“to speak with, discuss, talk to”)
    tōstōtan (“to push, thrust”)
    tōward (“future”)
    tōwardes (“near”)
    tōwardig (“near”)
    tōwendian (“to turn towards”)

Derived terms[edit]

Category Old Saxon terms prefixed with to- not found

Ternate[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Cognate with Tehit t- (“first-person singular prefix”).

Pronoun[edit]

to- (Jawi تو-)

  1. first-person singular clitic, I
    ngori tosonyinga moju ngana na demo se ngori. ― I still remember your words to me.

See also[edit]

Ternate personal pronouns
independent subject proclitic possessive
Informal Formal
1st person singular ngori fangarem, fajaruf to ri
2nd person singular ngana ngoni, jou ngoni no ni
3rd person singular unam, minaf om, mof, inh im, mif, manh
1st person plural inclusive ngone fo na, nga
1st person plural exclusive ngomi fangare ngomim, fajaru ngomif, fara ngomi1 mi mi, mia
2nd person plural ngoni ni na, nia
3rd person plural anah, enanh ih, nh, yoh, †, yanh, † nah, ngah, manh
  • unmarked pronouns are gender non-specific
  • m - masculine, f - feminine, h - human, nh - non-human
  • 1 - for mixed-gender groups
  • † - archaic

References[edit]

  • Frederik Sigismund Alexander de Clercq (1890) Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate, E.J. Brill
  • Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Wiyot[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Preverb[edit]

to-

  1. The definite article: the

References[edit]

  • Karl V. Teeter (1964) The Wiyot Language, University of California press, page 95

Wolio[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀ-.

Pronunciation[edit]

Prefix[edit]

to-

  1. marks the impersonal passive of transitive verbs
    tobawa (“to be brought”)
  2. forms verbs expressing involuntary action
    tole'e (“to urinate”)

References[edit]

  • Anceaux, Johannes C. 1988. The Wolio Language. Dordrecht: Foris.
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