▪ I. to, a. Obs. exc. dial.
Forms: α. (Sc. and n. dial.) 4–6 ta, 5 taa, 5 (8–9 Sc.) tae, 9 teae; 9 north. dial. tea, teea. β. 4–7 to, 5 too, 7 toe.
[ME. tā, tô, shortened form of tān, tôn tone a., when standing before a n. (orig. only before a consonant). For history see tone a., and cf. o, oo, a, ae, shortened forms of one a.]
a. The collocation the ta, the to, properly that a, that (thet) o, ‘the one’, as opposed to the tother = that other, ‘the other’.
| α a 1340 Hampole Psalter lvii. 4 The snake that festis the ta ere til the erth, and the tothere stoppis with hire taile. 1387 Charters, &c. Edinb. (1871) 35 Betwene worthy men and nobyl..on the ta half, and..masounys on the tothir half. a 1400–50 Alexander 3978 Þi semble o þe taa syde & myne on þe tothire. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 181 Þer war a hate oven on þe ta side me, & þe shapp of hym on þat other partie. 1513 Douglas æneis x. vii. 175 Pallas on the ta part..Lawsus resistis on that vthir syde. 1721 Ramsay Horace to Virgil 10 Bring hame the tae haff o' my saul. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 128 Up with the tae side, down with the tither. |
| β c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 176 Þe to kyng & þe toþer assailed it so hard. 1423 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 256/2 That the too half be forfet to the..Kyng and the tother half to hym. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 3270 That to [error for that o or the to] raven was ful holde. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. ix. (W. de W.), He hath tweyne heedys, one in the to [Bodl. MS. þat one] ende and a nother in the tother ende. 1609 W. M. Man in Moone (1849) 18 Tradesmen treade on the to side of the way. 1642 Rogers Naaman 193 The Angell gave him a bunch on the to-side. |
b. Used without the after a poss. pron. (or case), as in his to eye, his one eye, the one of his eyes.
| 1513 Douglas æn. iv. ix. 91 The quene..Hir ta fut bair. |
† c. In phr. a to-side, on one side. Obs.
In part of northern England where the regularly becomes tĕ, tă, t' (as tă fells, t'measter, t'titter oop caw t'udder, t'aud lad), to, tone, tother stand for t'o, t'one, t'other, i.e. the o, the one, the other; so in colloq. Eng. more widely, t'one or t'other, t'other man, t'other day; hence it is possible that a-to-side represents on-th'o-side; the northern ME. was o þe taa side, mod. Sc. o(n) the tae side.
| 1601 Holland Pliny viii. xxiv. 208 Turning his head a to⁓side. 1606 Choice, Chance, etc. (1881) 70 Lookes a toside, and swears at euery word. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. 389 Winding atoe side and going crosse. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 139 Then Christian stept a little a to-side to his Fellow Hopeful. 1684 Ibid. ii. 67 He called you a to-side. |
▪ II. † to, v. Obs.
Also 5 too; pa. tense 4–5 to, pa. pple. 4–5 ton, 6 tone.
The ME. apocopate northern forms tā, tān for take, taken, with the ā rounded in north midland speech, or transliterated by midland or southern writers to tô, tôn; in the pa. tense to was apocopated from the original tóc.
All the rimed examples of the pres. and pa. pple. rime with words having ā in northern dialect; in earlier instances the change of a to o was mostly scribal; but in late Sc. it was mostly the work of the author anglicizing his native ā to ô on the analogy of sā, sô, bān, bône, etc.
| 13.. Cursor M. 16454 (Cott.) Quen þai þe fine gold for-soke, And to [v.r. toke] þam to þe lede. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 947 Þe truage was com to to [rimes so, þo, go] Moraunt, þe noble kniȝt. Ibid. 1484 His tong haþ he ton [rime nek bon] And schorn of bi þe rote. Ibid. 2112 Þen sall þis rewel eft furth be ton [rime gon]. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 1432 To speke fayre he to hede. c 1440 Bone Flor. 887 And Awdegone hur cowncelde soo Oon of thes lordys for to too. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlvi. 102 That he..nocht in the feindis net be tone [rime allone]. |
▪ III. to, prep., conj., adv.
(tuː, tʊ, tə)
[OE. tó, in form = OFris., OS. tô (MDu., Du. toe, MLG., LG. tô, to), OHG. zô, zuo, zua, MHG. zuo, Ger. zu:—OTeut. *tô adv.; beside which OTeut. had *ti, OFris., OS. ti, te (Fris., MDu., Du., MLG., LG. te), OHG. za, ze, zi (MHG. ze) prep. OTeut. *tô and *ti (? ta) unite in a pre-Teut. dō̆, de, cognate with OSl. and OIr. do, Lith. da- prefix, Gr. -δε, L. -do suffix. Gothic used only the form du, and ON. substituted til, till. In prehistoric OE. the prep. was already levelled with the adv. in the form to (tó, to), as in Ger. both are now zu. But while tó adv., retaining its stress, came at last to be written too (tuː), the prep., being usually stressless, remained at to (tʊ, tə), and in dialectal specimens is now often written ta, tae, teh, ti, tu (meaning (ta), (te), (tə)), some of which forms are occasional also in earlier writing. (In some northern dialects (te) develops before a vowel into tev, tiv.)
Exceptional and dialectal forms. (Chiefly with inf., where also before a vowel it was formerly often reduced to t or t', as in tamend, t'enjoy: see t'1.)
a 1175 Tu [see A. 1]. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 5 Þat is te cumen a domes dai. a 1225 St. Marher. 19 He..demde hire te deaðe. 13.. Cursor M. 14913 (Gött.) For fast it draus te þe nede. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 433 To [v.r. te] kepe Cristis religioun. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3156 That comest so slyghly for tespye. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 541 Mony ratche ta ryn under the ryss. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vi, The Ambassadour..returning too his Gallies. 1822 W. Tennant Thane of Fife i. 2 Euterpe, aidant come, t'adorn my song. 1894 ‘Ian Maclaren’ Bonnie Brier Bush v. (1895) 181 It only ‘threatened tae be weet’. 1896 R. Reid in N. York Scot. Amer. Oct., Aff tae the muirs.]
A. prep. (in ordinary use, before a n.)
The OE. prep. tó normally ‘governed’ or was followed by the dative case, sometimes, idiomatically, by the genitive or the instrumental (esp. in tó þæs and to þ{yacu}), rarely by the accusative. In later Middle and in mod.Eng., to is followed by the ordinary ‘objective’ case, which in ns. is formally identical with the nominative, and in pronouns is the dative-accusative, me, him, etc. In Middle and mod.Eng. to not only represents the OE. preposition, but also takes the place of the OE. inflected dative case. Even in OE. the simple dative was often reinforced by tó, or (what came to the same thing) was supplanted by tó and its case. This was very frequent in late OE., and (helped no doubt by the example of French, which had similarly substituted the construction with à (L. ad) for the L. dative) became universal in ME., the simple dative remaining only in pronouns and substantives as the indirect or remoter object, known by its position before the direct object (as in ‘give me the book’, ‘tell John the news’). Both with pronouns and ns., the prepositional construction may, and in some cases must, be used (e.g. ‘give the book to me’, ‘tell it to John’). In OE. many verbs ‘governed’ or took a dative object; with the loss of the dative inflexion, this case could no longer be distinguished from the accusative, and such verbs are now treated as ordinary transitive vbs. governing the objective (e.g. sio heord folᵹað ðæm wordum & ðæm ðeawum ðæs hirdes, ‘the herd follows the words and the thews [customs] of the shepherd’).
The senses and uses of to may be arranged in various ways, every way having its peculiar difficulties owing to cross-currents of history and usage. OE. and the West Germanic Languages had two prepositions with the sense of modern to, viz. tó and óð; the second of these always expressed motion reaching its object; it is therefore probable that tó had originally the sense of ‘direction towards’, without any implication of reaching; and in a truly historical account of the word, it would perh. be necessary to start with the two main divisions of ‘toward’ and ‘actually to’. But even in the earliest written OE. this distinction had, so far as concerns tó, faded away, and in the various transferred and later senses it could not be successfully carried out. Even the later distinction between to as a preposition implying motion, and to representing the dative inflexion, can, from the falling together of these notions, only be partially exhibited. The arrangement here followed is thus largely tentative and practical, and not in every case historical.
I. Expressing a spatial or local relation.
1. Expressing motion directed towards and reaching: governing a n. denoting the place, thing, or person approached and reached. The opposite of from. Also with adv. prefixed, as away, down, out, up, etc.
Sometimes preceding another preposition (of position): see quot. c 1300, and cf. from 15 b.
| Beowulf (Z.) 2010 Ic ðær furðum cwom, to ðam hring-sele. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. v. xi. §4 Mon lædde Aristobolus to Rome ᵹebundenne. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1132 (Laud MS.) Ðis ᵹear com Henri king to þis land. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 229 He com tu us. c 1300 Cursor M. 21792 (Edin.) Out of þe bridil he [þe nailis] lachte And to biscide þe croz þaim taȝte. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 16 And specially from euery shires ende Of Engelond to Caunturbury they wende. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn liv. 211 The beautifull Queene was royally led to and from the Church. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 27 When the poore man might turne out a cow, or two..to the commons. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xv. 29 [He] caried them captiue to Assyria. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. i. 2 Forester was sent to Edinburgh. 1904 F. C. Kitton Dickens Country 63 Dickens returned to London. Mod. He has removed to near Rugby. Take this child to his mother's house. Come here to me. |
b. In figurative expressions of motion; the following n. denoting (a) a state or condition attained, or (b) a thing or person reached by some action figured as movement.
| c 875 O.E. Chron. an. 871, Þa feng ælfred..to Wesseaxna rice. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xiv. 300 Hie ðonne astiᵹað to Godes anlicnesse. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Hit hine tið to þan bittre deðe. c 1200 Ormin 11219 He biginneþþ..Att Abraham, & reccneþþ aȝȝ Dunnwarrd fra mann to manne. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. iv. (Rolls) 293 If thou wolte entre to lijf, kepe the comaundementis. 1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Reb. 64 Nowe to retourne to Wyat. 1625 Laud Wks. (1847) I. 95 When he came to the crown. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xviii, To reclaim a lost child to virtue. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 216 The only debate of which any account has come down to us. 1905 M. Hume Span. Infl. on Eng. Lit. 97 To trace how the germ of the stories came to Spain. Mod. Do not let it run to seed. |
c. Elliptical uses. (a) with ellipsis of go or other verb of motion, esp. in commands, or (arch.) after an auxiliary verb. (b) = Gone to; in going to, on the way to. (Chiefly dial.) (c) after a n. implying or suggesting motion: = That goes, or takes one, or causes one to go, to.
| (a) c 1425 Cast. Persev. 3038 in Macro Plays 167 Þou muste to helle. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Kings xii. 16 To youre tentes, O Israel! 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Assurance iv, I will to my Father. 1663 Pepys Diary 19 Oct., She waked and gargled her mouth, and to sleep again. 1666 Ibid. 28 Apr., My wife to her father's, to carry him some ruling work. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 733 I'll to bed. 1884 Browning Ferishtah, Eagle 35 To Ispahan forthwith! |
| (b) 1451 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. I. 221 The Lady Boys..is to London to compleyn to the Kyng. c 1500 Melusine lix. 360 For now the sonne is to his rest. 1908 [Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 45 She wore, to church, a black cottage-bonnet. |
| (c) a 900 K. ælfred Solil. Pref. (1902) 2 Þæt ic maᵹe rihtne weiᵹ aredian to þam ecan hame. 971 Blickl Hom. 109, & him tæcean lifes weᵹ & rihtne gang to heofonum. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xvi. 7 By the well in the waye to Sur. 1673 [see road n. 4]. 1758 Goldsm. Mem. Protestant (1895) II. 137 He had some Business to Nice. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 371 If he asked his way to St. James's. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 202 The path of duty was the way to glory. 1862 Chambers's Encycl. III. 321/1 The railway to C. was opened in 1856. 1874 Kingsley Lett. (1877) II. 426 We are promised free passes..to California. Mod. The first train to London. |
2. Expressing direction: In the direction of, towards.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii. (1890) 38 His eaᵹan ahof upp to heofonum. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxx[i]. 2 Ahyld me þin eare to [Vulg. inclina ad me aurem tuam]. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xxiv. [xxv.] 15 Myn iȝen ben euere to the Lord. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 1 As pilot..That to a stedfast starre his course hath bent. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 558 Vanguard, to Right and Left the Front unfould. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 472 A Cote that opens to the South. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 232 Standing with his back to me. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 14 He pointed to a clump of trees. |
b. After look, smell = mod. at; also † behold to, † see to = look at. Obs. or dial.
| a 900 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xii. 3 Beseoh to me, Drihten,..and ᵹehyr me. Ibid. xxiv. 14 [xxv. 16] ᵹeloca to me, Drihten, and ᵹemiltsa me. 1375– [see look v. 21 a]. 1382 Wyclif Gen. iv. 4 Þe Lord bihelde to Abel and to his ȝiftis. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 55 The dupe dale and durke vnsemely to see to. c 1475 Stans puer 55 in Q. Eliz. Acad. (E.E.T.S.) 58 When þou spekys..Be-hold to þi souereyn in þe face. 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 191 b, Manie,..before they had dronke, would smell to their wine. 1611 Bible Josh. xxii. 10 A great altar to see to. 1852 Hawthorne Blithedale Rom. ix, A young girl's heart, which he held in his hand, and smelled to, like a rosebud. |
c. In expressing the position of something lying in a specified direction. (Cf. on prep. 4.)
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. ix. [xi.] (1890) 44 Eardædon Bryttas binnan þam dice to suðdæle. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 273 Here thou behold'st Assyria,..And..to south the Persian bay. 1789 G. White Selborne i, To the north-west, north and east of the village, is a range of fair enclosures. 1820 Scott Monast. iii, The extensive range of pasturage..lay to the west. 1855 Tennyson Charge Light Brigade iii, Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them. 1861 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 79 The bedrooms to the back are much larger. |
d. In figurative expressions of direction (inclination, tendency, etc.). Also fig. from c, in phr. to the bad, to the good (= on the wrong, or right, side of the account), to the fore; in to the contrary with both senses (2 and 2 c).
See bad B. 1 b, good C. 5 b, fore a. 4.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 19326 (Edin.) Þai durste na uiolence þaim do For þe folc þaim heeldit to. a 1400 Birth Jesus 4 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 65 Icome he is..to wham is al oure hope. 1512– [see contrary B. 1 b, c]. 1637– [see fore a. 4]. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Lime, Oblong, with a tendency to a rhomboidal shape. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxvi, He..commanded Barnes to have an eye to the Dominie. |
e. With a n. or pron. (or n. phrase) followed by ward or wards (now commonly written as a suffix, hyphened or joined to the preceding word); e.g. to God-ward: see -ward, -wards, and cf. toward. arch.
3. Indicating the limit of a movement or extension in space: As far as (to); = OE. oð.
Sometimes followed by another preposition (of position), as in quot. 1641: cf. from 15 b. Often correlative to from, indicating the remoter, or the second, of two limits: see from 2. See also up to s.v. up.
| 971–1884 [see from 2]. a 1300 Cursor M. 2742 Þe smike it reches to þe scki. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 1538 Til þe her on is heued greu to his fet. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 840 So grete a noyse, That..Men myghte hyt han herd..To Rome. c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 462, I smete hym to the hert. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 258 She would infect to the north starre. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 62 If their candle had burned to within the Socket. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 652 Protestant to the backbone. 1873 Tristram Moab i. 14 Wet to the skin. Mod. The thermometer has risen to above 32°. |
b. After expressions of distance, indicating the remote limit (formerly also the near limit, at which the speaker is actually or in idea): = from 5 a, of 4 b.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §4 Hi woldon witan hu heah hit wære to ðæm heofone. c 893 ― Oros. i. i. §17 Hit mihte beon þreora mila brad to þæm more. 1551 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 115 Dwelland within four mylis to this burch. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iii. 39 How farre is't call'd to Soris? Mod. It is eleven miles (from Oxford) to Witney. |
4. Expressing simple position: At, in (a place, also fig. a condition, etc.). Cf. Ger. zu Berlin, zu hause. Now only dial. and U.S. colloq. Cf. home n.1 14.
| 925–c 935 Laws of æthelstan ii. c. 14 §2 On Cantwarabyriᵹ vii myneteras..to Hrofeceastre iii..to Lundenbyriᵹ viii [etc.]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Swa dreieð his erme saule in eche pine to helle grunde. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 384 Þou art y-tauȝt to a liþer scole. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1696 Þat his body to Schaftesbury were leyde. c 1500 Melusine lvii. 335, I haue herd say that there is to Mountferrat..a deuoute & holy place. 1658 in Morris Troub. Cath. Foref. i. vi. (1872) 314 Sister Cornelia who had lain to bed about thirty years. 1795, etc. [see home n.1 14]. 1801 J. Quincy in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1888) 2nd Ser. IV. 130 Mr. William Hammatt and Mr. Josiah Barker..called and invited us to a party they had made for us to the East end of the Island. 1818 L. D. Clark Jrnl. 10 Sept. in Firelands Pioneer (1920) XXI. 2321 Stayed to Canfields all night. 1835–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 57, I guess, said he, they have enough of it to home. 1855 Kingsley Westward Ho xxvi, Lucy Passmore, the white witch to Welcombe. 1889 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow 272 In Somerset..it is correct to say ‘I bought this to Taunton’. 1901 Harper's Mag. CII. 672/1 You can get real handsome cups and saucers to Crosby's. 1977 New Yorker 15 Aug. 37/2 Suzanne said, ‘What about Sunday? We could do something in the afternoon. Were you ever to the Botanic Gardens?’ |
b. to work: at work, working. U.S. colloq.
| 1776 Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1886) 2nd. Ser. II. 304 [We] met some people to work on the High: way. 1827 S. S. Arnold Proc. Vermont Hist. Soc. (1940) VIII. 111 Her husband..had died instantly in the barn, where he was to work. 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing 116, I have been to work on it ever since we was at the Rip-Raps. 1858 Rome (N.Y.) Sentinel Sept., The boiler..passed through the main building..without injuring the workmen there, although men were to work on each side of where the boiler passed. 1949 N.Y. Herald Tribune 6 Dec. 1 Some 450,000 miners were back to work today. 1978 M. Z. Lewin Silent Salesman xxvii. 146 He's to work... Don't rightly know what time he'll be back. |
5. Expressing the relation of contact or the like. a. Into (or in) contact with; on, against. Often expressing more than mere position, and so passing into transferred senses. See also on to.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxv. [xxiv.] (1890) 348 Ond his heafod onhylde to þam bolstre. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4844 ‘Lordinges’, he seyd, ‘nimeþ þis bodi, & to þe grounde it lay wel softli’. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) iii. 9 [They] held to þaire noses spoungez moisted with water.., for þe aer þare was so drie. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxi. 250 Huon withdrewe..& lened hym to a pyller. 1536 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 90 A request..the accomplishement wherof I haue..moche to harte. 1599, 1626 [see feel v. 2 a]. a 1715 Burnet Own Time an. 1669 (1823) I. 469 He stood up to the wall. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxv, Applying plenty of yellow soap to the towel. 1893 D. Hyde My Grief on Sea vi, His breast to my bosom, His mouth to my mouth. |
b. Expressing contiguity or close proximity: By, beside. Also fig. or with additional implication, as in to one's face, teeth, etc. = ‘in presence and defiance of’ (Schmidt Shaks. Lex.): cf. 25 b, and see face n. 5 c, tooth n.; to hand: see hand n. 34; to stand to one's post, guns, etc.: see stand. v.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxxi. 629 He sæt to þam casere. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6355 To Ioly folk I enhabite. c 1449 Pecock Repr. iii. i. (Rolls) 279 The suburbis..ligging to the same citees. 1614 Bp. J. King Vitis Palatina 30 They that walke side to side, and cheeke to cheeke. 1752 J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 202 The Clerk bids the Keeper set the Prisoners..to the Bar. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 59, I sit down to table; but I cannot eat. |
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 64 Euen to the eyes of Richard Gaue him defiance. 1602 ― Ham. iv. vii. 57, I shall liue and tell him to his teeth, Thus diddest thou. 1739 Elton in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. i. iv. 12 We instantly stood to our arms. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. II. ii. 25 He had taken his part boldly and stood to it manfully. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 219 They will find everything ready to their hands. |
II. Expressing a relation in time.
6. Indicating a final limit in time, or the end of a period: Till, until; often correlative to from: see from 3. (Formerly sometimes preceding an adv. of time, e.g. now, then: cf. from 15 a, till prep. 5 b.) † Also rarely expressing an extent in time: For, during, till the end of (obs.); esp. in phr. to term of life (see term n. 4 b).
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 356 He worhte his weorc to seofon nihtum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Fram þan halie hester dei boð italde fifti daȝa to þisse deie. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 190 Fram þe biginning of þe world to þe time þat now is. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xviii. (Egipciane) 276 Scho saw hyme neuir to þan. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 37 To þe daie þat Noie wente into þe ship. c 1490 Caxton Rule St. Benet lxx. 139 Children to the xv. yere of age shall stande euer vndir..discipline. 1509 [see then 7]. 1582 L. Kirby in Allen Martyrd. Campion (1908) 77 Yours to death, and after death. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 159 ¶4 From the Beginning of the World to its Consummation. 1799 Wordsw. Lucy Gray xv, Some maintain that to this day She is a living child. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 36 The parliament was prorogued to the tenth of February. 1855 Dickens Dorrit v, The business hours..were from ten to six. |
b. (So long) before (a definite future time); esp. in stating the time of day: (so many minutes) before (an hour). Opposed to past.
| c 1000 Soul's Addr. to Body 37 (Gr.) Þæt hit wære xxx. þusend wintra to þinum deaðdæᵹe. 1519 in Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 269 To ryng to matyns at evere daie,..at halfe oure to v. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 303 Or goe to bed, now being two houres to day. 1641 R. Carpenter Experience i. Med. xiv. 102 It wil not be long to this time. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. iii, How long is it to dinner, sir? 1842 Tennyson Walking to Mail in Poems II. 47 James. The mail? At one o'clock. John. What is it now? James. A quarter to. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 733 It was exactly a quarter to four o'clock. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 35 ‘We shall be late. See, it's only ten to now’ [i.e. 10 minutes to the hour], continued he, pointing to the timepiece above the fire. 1968 ‘R. Petrie’ MacLurg goes West ii. vii. 60 ‘I thought we might just catch you before dinner,’ said Mrs. Robbins to them quickly. ‘It's twelve minutes to.’ |
c. from..to, with repeated n. of time, denoting regular recurrence; as from day to day, from time to time, from month to month.
| 1014 Wulfstan Serm. ad Anglos in Hom. (Napier) 156 (MS. E.) For folces synnan fram dæᵹe to dæᵹe. 1297–1712 [see day n. 19]. c 1325–1895 [see from 3 b]. 1423–1891 [see time n. 45 a]. |
7. At (a time), on (a day) (now dial.); † in, during (a time) (obs. rare). Cf. today, tomorrow, tonight, to-year.
This use of to in tódæᵹ, etc., has been explained as originating in sense 6, through phrases like nu ᵹyt to dæᵹ ‘now still to this day’, shortened to to dæᵹ; but it is doubtful whether this covers the whole ground. The mod. s.w. use of to with expressions of time seems parallel to its use with place in 4.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. ix. [xii.] (1890) 46 (MS. B.) Eorðweall..þone mon nu ᵹyt to dæᵹe sceawian mæᵹ. Ibid. i. ix. [xi.] 44 Ceastre & torras..þa we to dæᵹ sceawian maᵹon. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. ii. iv. §5 Nu ᵹiet todæᵹe hit is on leoðum sungen. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xi. 5 Hwylc eower hæfð sumne freond, & gæþ to midre nihte to him [etc.]. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 194 Swa micel..swa he to ðam dæᵹe ᵹeðicgan mihte. c 1300 Beket 769 Com to morwe to speche time. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4595 Þat to hir comen y schold To on day þat was y-sett. 1551 Hooper Injunctions xix. Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 136 In no parish..shall the bells be rung to noon upon the Saturdays. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., I'll be ready to dree o'clock. |
b. Indicating the precise time at which something is to be done, or at which one is to arrive: At and not after (an appointed time), precisely or punctually at or on.
| 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 230 The duke..pressed earnestly to put it to a day, and come to a battle. a 1785 Ld. Sackville in Eng. Hist. Rev. Apr. (1910) 316, I shan't be to my time. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 287 Unable to pay their hearth money to the day. 1893 Chamb. Jrnl. 1 July 406/1 Ainsworth came to his time. |
III. Expressing the relation of purpose, destination, result, effect, resulting condition or status.
8. Indicating aim, purpose, intention, or design: For; for the purpose of; with the view or end of; in order to. (Now often replaced by for.)
| Beowulf (Z.) 3016 Nalles eorl weᵹan maððum to ᵹe-myndum. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §15 Hiora hyd bið swiðe god to sciprapum. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 82 To ði he com þæt he wolde his heofenlice rice..mannum forᵹyfan. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10691 In gibet hii were anhonge as to more vilte [disgrace]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 347 Þei..traveiliden more bisili to growyng and profiting of þe Chirche. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 365 I-strengthed with the seales of bothe chapiters to more suerte. 1585 J. B. tr. Viret's School Beastes A vj b, To the ende that the seedes whiche they hyde in the earth, shoulde not growe. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing x, He was bred up to Joynery. a 1715 Burnet Own Time an. 1661 (1823) I. 318 There were few books set out to sale. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. Pref. 3 Waters..employ'd to so many different and useful purposes. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 715 The captain..came to our rescue. 1894 C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 50 The indispensable means to our end. |
b. Combining the notions of ‘purpose’ and ‘motion so as to reach’ (1) or ‘contiguity’ (5 b).
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 328 Dryhten..ðonne he cymð to ðæm dome. 1471– [see grass n. 5, 5 b]. a 1523 Hawes His Epitaph, Though the daye be never so long, At last the bells ringeth to evensong. a 1592 Greene Orpharion Wks. (Grosart) XII. 69 They sate downe..to dinner. 1648 Gage West. Ind. 154 That solemn meeting of the people to Fairs and mirth. 1806 A. Hunter Culina (ed. 3) 133 You sit down to writing at your bureau. 1838 Ticknor in Life, etc. (1876) II. viii. 147 We were out..to breakfast. |
c. spec. Towards or for the making of; as a contributory element or constituent of.
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 807 Stikkes to a fyre þai gadird fast. c 1500 Demaundes Joyous in Rel. Ant. II. 74 Howe many strawes go to gose nest? R. None, for lacke of fete. 1579 Ibid. I. 255, 10 yerds yelow lace that went to my lether dublett. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. iii. iv. i. iii. (1651) 667 To the roof of Apollo Didymeus Temple..a thousand okes did not suffice. 1890 Harper's Mag. May 961/2 Whole gardens of roses go to one drop of the attar. |
d. Indicating the crop with which ground is planted. Chiefly U.S.
| 1799, etc. [see plant v. 6 a]. 1833 S. Smith Life & Writings Major J. Downing 22 [He]..planted the ground all over to corn, and potatoes. 1848 F. A. Durivage Stray Subjects 21 Having laid down a few acres to oats. 1902 Times 21 July 13/6 Land..planted to walnuts. 1945 B. MacDonald Egg & I (1946) I. iii. 45 The garden..was planted to peas, beets, beans, corn, Swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, onions, turnips, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes and squash. 1980 Daily Tel. 17 Sept. 8/3 The area sown to winter barley was greatly increased. |
9. Indicating destination, or an appointed or expected end or event. (After ready, prepared, etc., for is now substituted.)
| c 1205 Lay. 13428 A he seide þat Bruttes Neoren noht to nuttes. 13.. K. Alis. 2451 (Bodl. MS.) Ten hundreþ weren to deþ ydiȝth. 1388 Wyclif Ps. xxxvii[i]. 18[17], Y am redi to betyngis. c 1430 Hymns Virg. 99 To bie oure soulis to blis. a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 342/2 Your stockes bee made to the fyer. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 463 Born to bitter Fate. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxviii, He had..made up his mind to the event. 1887 Besant The World went ii, He was..sentenced to transportation. |
10. Indicating result, effect, or consequence: So as to produce, cause, or result in.
For to one's cost or charge see cost n.2 5 d, charge n. 10.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. vii. §1 Þæt wæs þæt forme, þæt hyra wæter wurdon to blode. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Mare hit him deð to herme þenne to gode. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 210 What caas þat falliþ to him, it mut nedis falle to his betere [= betterment, advantage]. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. v. 206 He dang him with his bow to deid. 1563 Homilies ii. Inform. Offence H. Script. ii. (1850) 380 Though the rehearsal of the genealogies..be not to much edification. 1623 Gouge Serm. Extent God's Provid. §13 Fire brake out to the destruction of many. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xi. 92 To his..astonishment. 1888 Times (weekly ed.) 6 Apr. 16/4 To light those buildings by electricity, to the total exclusion of gas. 1908 R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxviii, But now, to his despair, he felt that his patient herself was fighting against his skill. |
† b. to take (etc.) to the best or worst: to put the best, or worst, construction upon; to make the best, or worst, of. Obs.
| c 1440 Jacob's Well 286 Euyr-more þou demyst euyll & to þe werste. 1563 Baldwin in Mirr. Mag. X viij b, The good take yll thynges to the best. 1569 J. Rogers Gl. Godly Loue (1876) 183 With a loving patience to take all things to the best. 1629 N. Carpenter Achitophel 43 More honour found Homer in expressing mens manners to the best, than Hegemon to the worst. |
11. Indicating a state or condition resulting from some process: So as to become: = into 6 a. Also colloq. (after the vb. to be, in all to pieces or the like): Reduced to the condition of, having become.
† all to naught: see all C. 12, naught n. 1 d.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. v. iv. §4 Ealle ða clifu..forburnan to ascan. c 1000 ælfric Lev. i. 6 And hyldon þa offrunga & ceorfon to sticcon. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 143 He is þet makeð twa to an. c 1205 Lay. 9425 Al þa wunliche burh heo barnden to duste. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) v. 14 After a ȝere it turnez to whyte. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iv. xvi. 140 Brente to coles. 1612 Capt. Smith Map Virginia 31 Tops of Deeres hornes boyled to a jelly. a 1720 Vanbrugh Journ. to London iii. ad fin., The glasses [of the coach] are all to bits. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. iv. 24 Forester..took the flowers..and pulled them to pieces. 1870 Eng. Mech. 28 Jan. 477/1 Shaped to an accurate figure. |
b. Indicating resulting position, status, or capacity: For, as, by way of, in the capacity of. Obs. or arch. exc. in certain phrases, as to take to wife, to call to witness, etc.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xv. [xxi.] (1890) 222 Se wæs..his freond [and] hæfde his sweostor to wife. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke iii. 8 We habbað us to fæder abraham. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xx. 12 Ic ᵹenam hiᵹ þa to wife. ― Deut. iv. 26 Ic hæbbe todæᵹ to ᵹewitnisse heofen and eorþan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 117 Ic þe ȝef to scawere mine folke israeles hirede. 13.. St. Ambrosius 125 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 10/1 Ambrose..To vr bisschop we wol haue. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶271 He ne hadde no mete but herbes and water to his drynke. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. x. (1885) 131 The qwene off Ffraunce hath but v. M{supl} marke yerely to huyr douer. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 28 So forward on his way (with God to frend) He passed forth. 1632 Milton Penseroso 113 Who had Canace to wife? 1879 Swinburne Stud. Shaks. i. (1880) 28 The high-born poem which had Sackville to father and Sidney to sponsor. |
12. Indicating that to which something tends or points. a. Indicating the object of inclination, desire, or need: For. Also (after to drink, etc.), As an expression of desire for (one's health, success, or the like): cf. 26 b.
| c 1200 [see longing vbl. n.1 1]. a 1300 Sarmun li. in E.E.P. (1862) 6 To met no drink þer nis no nede. 1366 [see appetite n. 3]. 1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Aug. 4 Þei herd sey þat her child had a grete corage to lernyng. 1605– [see mind n.1 13 d]. 1605– [see drink v. 13 b]. 1760 [W.R. Chetwood] Voy. W. O. G. Vaughan I. 38 You'll spoil her Stomach to her dinner. 1827 Scott Highl. Widow v, ‘To your health, mother!’ said Hamish. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xxxii, Instead of marrying Torfrida.., I have more mind to her niece. |
b. Indicating the object of a right or claim.
| c 1205 [see right n.1 7]. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 291 We haue no trewe title to hem. 1481– [see pretend v. 13]. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 292 When men receiue the Gospell and are baptized..they receiue thereby an interest to the kingdome of heauen. 1602 [see heir n. 2]. 1623 Dial. Laws Eng. xlvii. 149 If a man buy a horse in open market of him that in right had no propertie to him. 1752 [see claim n. 2]. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxv. 252 Thirteen..came forward as claimants to the crown. 1890 Ld. Esher in Law Times Rep. LXIII. 694/1 This lease..is a document of title to land. |
IV. Followed by a word or phrase expressing a limit in extent, amount, or degree.
13. Indicating a limit or point attained in degree or amount, or in division or analysis, and thus expressing degree of completeness or exactitude: As far as; to the point of; down to (an ultimate element or item), as in phr. to a hair (hair n. 8 c), to the last man; to a man (including every man, without exception); within (a limit of variation or error), as to an inch, to a day. (See also quots. s.v. down adv. 14.)
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xx. 42 Heo wel drohtnode to anum mæle fæstende. a 1300 Cursor M. 21527 Of he kest al to his serk. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 173 Þei..do me faste frydayes to bred and to water. 1552 Huloet, To the vttermost peny, ad assem. 1606– [see hair n. 8 c]. 1607–[see tittle n. 2 b]. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 149 They might have had the killing of all his Army to a man. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. ii. Wks. (1847) 491/1 That he would root them out to the very name. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xi, Sir Tomkyn..swore he was hers to the last drop of his blood. 1779 Mirror No. 34 ¶5 He was generally punctual to a minute. 1867 Froude Short Stud., Erasm. & Luther ii. 99 The bishops were hostile to a man. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 349 Balances are made sensitive to the fraction of a grain. |
b. Indicating the final point or second limit of a series, or of the extent of a variable quantity or quality; correl. to from (expressed or implied).
| 1699 [see from 2 b]. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 111 Here they found eleven to thirteen fathom soft oozy sand. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 23 The western arc of the misty circle kindled, from a rosy to a deep reddening glow. 1866 Lawrence tr. Cotta's Rocks Class. (1878) 141 A granular to compact aggregate. 1891 J. Leyland Peak Derbysh. i. 15 Every style from early Norman to late perpendicular. |
14. Indicating the full extent, degree, or amount: So as to reach, complete, or constitute. Chiefly in advb. phrases, as to a certainty, to a degree, to (that, etc.) extent, to a fault, to the full, etc.: see also the ns. See also up to s.v. up.
| c 1000 ælfric Lev. xxvi. 5 ᵹe etaþ to fylle. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 220 The beaute of hir face..so bryght, That the goddesse Proserpyne..To hir beaute ne myght appere. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 15 Knyghtes, squyers, and comons to the nombre of xx. m{supl}. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 140 They should not be able to pay a ransome to the value of the spurs and bridle bits in his campe. 1628 Gaule Pract. The. Panegyr. 60 Done, Done to full, whatsoe're he came to doe. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5814/2 Bank Bills..to the Value of three hundred and sixty Millions of Livres. 1829 Scott Wav. Introd., Gallant, courteous, and brave, even to chivalry. Mod. He was generous to a fault. |
b. Combining the notion of ‘extent’ with ‘result’ (10): So far or so much as to cause.
| [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 38 Unrot ys min sawl oþ deað.] c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 121 Crist..wes ibuhsum þan heuenliche federe to þa deðe. ? a 1500 Wycket (1828) 1 In greate suffirance of persecution euen to the death. 1625 Massinger New Way ii. ii, Yet he to admiration still increases In wealth. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. vi, She was in love with him to distraction. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge vi. (1863) 100 We were laughing at this to our heart's content. 1873 C. H. Ralfe Phys. Chem. 108 The filtrate and washings are..evaporated..to dryness. 1890 Harper's Mag. Mar. 564/2 The schoolroom was hot to suffocation. |
c. After a verb (or derived n.) denoting limitation or the like, and before a n. (or n. phr.) expressing the amount, extent, space, etc. to which something is restricted.
| 1518 Sel. Pl. Star Chamb. (Selden) II. 128 Without that the seid Inhabitauntes..haue byn lymytted..to eny certen nowmber of Catell. 1649– [see confine v. 7 b]. 1691– [see confinement 2]. 1697 Vanbrugh Relapse i. iii, Your honour's side-face is reduced to the tip of your nose. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus vi. 106 Marcus..fix'd their Allowance to two Attic Talents a Man. 1885 Law Times Rep. LIII. 527/2 There is nothing on the face of this will to cut down the widow's absolute interest to a life estate. |
V. Indicating addition, attachment, accompaniment, appurtenance, possession.
15. In addition to, besides, with. Now only indicating food taken in addition to a dish or meal, and in this use dial.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xli. 303 Se læce, ðonne he bietre wyrta deð to hwelcum drence. c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxviii. 19 Candidus and uitalis and fela oþre to him. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 73 He putte [orig. addidit] Ianeuer and Feuerrer to þe bygynnynge of þe ȝere. 1495 Coventry Leet Bk. 567 Ȝe shall haue drynk to your Cake. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1589 Foretell new stormes to those alreadie spent. 1653 Walton Angler viii. 171 Mix these together, and put to them either Sugar, or Honey. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 327 To the Charms of Person, [she] should have a humble, teachable Mind. 1792 W. Cowper Let. 30 Nov. in J. A. Roy Cowper & his Poetry (1914) viii. 166 It is impossible any longer to find a pound of butter or cream to our tea in all the country. 1876 Ruskin Fors Clav. lxix. §12 (1906) III. 403 He can't have cream to his tea. 1916 ‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin vii. 107 My poor John was fond of a hegg to 'is tea. 1925 V. Woolf Let. 20 Sept. (1977) III. 213, I am growing old, and want more mustard to my meat. |
b. To the accompaniment of; as an accompaniment to; also indicating the tune to which words are set; to ride to hounds: see hound n.1 2.
| 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1900) 118 Syngynge to the Lute..is more plesaunte. 1591 [see tune n. 2 a]. 1676 tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 397 Dancing-Masters, who danced to Two or Three Base-Vials, or Instruments very like them. 1611, 1702 [see go v. 17]. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho l, Performing a sprightly dance,..to the sounds of a lute and tamborine. 1825 Sporting Mag. XV. 346 We formerly rode after hounds, now we ride to them. 1825 C. Waterton Wanderings S. Amer. iv. 279 There is an old song, to the tune of La Belle Catharine. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds 693 The old-fashioned practice of shooting Partridges to dogs. 1906 Belloc Hills & Sea 116 The two trumpets of the battery sounding the call which is known among French gunners as ‘the eighty hunters’, because the words to it are ‘Quatre-vingt, quatre-vingt..chasseurs’. |
16. After words denoting attachment or adherence; hence, sometimes = Attached, fastened, or joined to. (lit. or fig.)
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xiv. [xvii.] (1890) 204 Þa næᵹlas..þe heo mid þæm to þæm timbre ᵹefæstnad wæs. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 324 Man..ða ræftras to ðære fyrste ᵹefæstnaþ. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 277 He wilnede mest of alle þing to him eliance. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings i. 8 A rowȝ man, and with an hery gyrdyl to the reenys. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 109 An old gowne girded to him with a thong. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 7 My very lippes might freeze to my teeth. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 285 As creeping ivy clings to wood or stone. 1800 Addison Amer. Law Rep. 1 The infant was found dead in the..river, with a stone to it. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 113 Sincerely attached to the Established Church. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 176 To that opinion I shall always adhere. |
17. After belong and verbs of similar meaning (q.v.); also after be with the sense of belong; also after a n., in the sense ‘appertaining or belonging to’: sometimes equivalent to ‘of’ or the possessive case of the n.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. § 21 Þæt Witland belimpeð to Estum. 972 Charter in Birch Cart. Sax. III. 589 Ðis sind þa land ᵹemæra þæs londes þe lympð to Sture. 1451 Rolls of Parlt. V. 226/2 Godes..that were sumtyme to the seid William. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 299, I am doughter to a king. 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 281 Katherine, wife to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolke. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. i. 2 Lieutenant-colonel to an English regiment of foot. Ibid. 5 Clerk to an attorney. |
b. Combining the notions of ‘appurtenance’ and ‘addition’ (15) or ‘attachment’ (16).
| c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 3510 To delyuer hit to a golde⁓smyȝt, to make a shrene þat body to. 1538 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VI. 13 Gevin for four roundellis to speris, vj cronis. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin ii. 126 This paltrey Jack Had scarce a Shooe to 's foot, a Rag to 's back. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 108 ¶2 Your Whip wanted a Lash to it. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds iii, One little boy complained..that there was no rim to his plate. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xix. 53 Without clothing to his back, or shoes to his feet. 1847 Helps Friends in C. i. v. 80 Both will and courage. Courage is the body to will. 1886 C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxx. (ed. 3) 269 The Hall now forms the vestibule to the Houses of Parliament. |
c. In colloq. phrases with there is and a quantitative or pronominal expression: belonging as a quality, attribute, or capacity to (someone or something, freq. it); that is all there is to it: it is that and nothing more; there's nothing to it: see nothing n. 10 c. orig. U.S.
| 1880 ‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abroad ii. 36 There's more to a blue-jay than any other creature. 1883 ― Life on Mississippi xlv. 459 The steamboat shoved out up the creek. That was all there was ‘to it’. 1895 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 83 ‘That's all there is to it,’ seethed the white water roaring through the scuppers. 1903 A. H. Lewis Boss 14 Tell me what there is to this shindy. 1914 V. Castle Mod. Dancing 44 Simply walk as softly and smoothly as possible... This is the One Step, and this is all there is to it. 1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners xvi. 343 He's a wonderful person, you know. There's a lot to him that doesn't show up on the surface. 1974 J. Thomson Long Revenge iii. 40 He had the feeling that there was a great deal more to it [sc. a case] than he had so far discovered. 1976 New Yorker 26 Apr. 38/1, I thought she had a lot to her, a lot to offer. |
VI. Expressing relation to a standard or to a stated term or point.
18. Expressing comparison: In comparison with, as compared with. Also † as to (obs.). (See also 21.)
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 13 Ðes is ure God, and nis nan oðer ᵹeteald to him. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xxii. 69 Your myghte is nothyng to myn. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cclxviii. 396 His enemyes were but a handfull of men, as to the nombre of his. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 46 There is no foole to the olde foole. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 140 So excellent a King, that was, to this, Hiperion to a Satyre. 1666 Pepys Diary 21 Apr., It was so thick to its length. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 351 Now, by..good Physick,..pretty well, to what they had been. 1863 Cowden Clarke Shaks. Char. viii. 202 The men are noodles to her. |
19. a. Connecting the names of two things (usu. numbers or quantities) compared or opposed to each other in respect of amount or value, as the odds in a wager or contest, the terms of a ratio, or the constituents of a compound: Against, as against.
| 1530 Palsgr. 712/1 Twenty to one he is ondone for ever. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V 76 b, Their enemies..wer foure to one. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 592 O monstrous, but one halfe penny-worth of Bread to this intollerable deale of Sacke? 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 127 There is no nation..that are..able one nation to one to stand against the Scythians. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art i. 212 The visible part of an object will be to the lens, as the focal distance of the lens, to the distance of the eye. 1836 J. Romilly Diary 30 Nov. (1967) 109 The grace..was thrown out in the White hood house by 30 to 21; it past in the black by 23 to 20. 1846 Penny Cycl. Suppl. II. 432/1 The composition..consists of three-fourths of the putty..to one-fourth of calcined gypsum. 1885 Manch. Exam. 16 May 6/2 Mr. Gladstone's motion was carried by 337 to 38. |
b. Connecting two expressions of number or quantity which correspond to each other, or of which one constitutes the amount or value of the other: In; making up. (to the = in every.)
| c 1000, 1297 [see c]. 1494 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 4 That there be but only viii. Bushels rased and stricken to the Quarter of Corn. 1545 Rates of Customs c v, Twelue ounces to the pounde. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 25 He..made vs pay..one shilling to the pound. 1660 Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. iii. iv. xiii. §17 Three weeks of five days to the week. 1801 W. Huntington Bank of Faith Ded. 21 Thirteen to the dozen. 1891 S. C. Scrivener Our Fields & Cities 44 An open country..with solitary houses—a house to about five square miles. |
† c. Introducing an expression denoting price or cost: For, at. Obs. (exc. as coinciding with b).
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iii. vii. §5 Þæt hie þa æt nihstan hie selfe to nohte bemætan. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 29 Hu ne becypað hiᵹ tweᵹen spearwan to peninge? 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8334 An ey [= egg] to tueie ssillinges..þo hii boȝte, & an hen vor viftene. 1483 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 337 Thath all Bakers of the said Cite..make butt ij. horse⁓lofys to a peny. 1656 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 12 Profit, at least to the rate of eight in the hundred. 1862 Thackeray Philip ii. (1884) 110 Delicious little Havannahs, ten to the shilling. |
20. Expressing agreement or adaptation: In accordance with, according to, after, by. (See also 21.)
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxvi. 249 Se ðe to Godes bisene ᵹesceapen is. a 1300 Cursor M. 12946 Bidd þir stanes be bred to will. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour k v, I pray yow that ye take ensample to them. 1664 Dryden Rival Ladies Ep. Ded., Ess. (Ker) I. 9 The greatest part of my design has already succeeded to my wish. 1754 Richardson Grandison (1781) I. xxxvi. 256 He dresses to the fashion. 1838 Macaulay Ess., Sir W. Temple (1897) 419 Temple is not a man to our taste. 1878 Morley Diderot, etc. I. v. iii. 203 As the neutral scribe writing to the dictation of an unseen authority. |
b. Combining the senses ‘according to’ and ‘to the extent of’ (14): esp. in phr. to one's knowledge, † power (obs.), remembrance, etc. (= as far as one knows, is able, remembers, etc.), now usually to the best of..; to all appearance; etc. (See also the ns.)
to my knowledge, qualifying a positive statement = ‘as I actually know’; qualifying a negative statement = ‘as far as I know’.
| 1399 Rolls of Parlt. III. 452/1 If it were so taken and construed to the hegheste sentence and most rigorouste. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 1680, I shal help, to my power. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 20 Preamble, Strikyng with..swordes..and oder wepons to the uttermost of their powers. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII 3 b, The lyke was neuer harde of, to any mannes remembraunce before that tyme. 1636 Massinger Gt. Dk. Flor. Ded., It is above my strength..to celebrate to the desert your noble inclination. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iv. xiv, I will be sworn, to the best of my remembrance, I was in a passion. 1793 To all appearance [see appearance 8]. 1885 Sir H. Cotton in Law Rep. 30 Chanc. Div. 12 They were to all appearances distinct bills. |
| 1542 N. Udall in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 3 To my knowlege I have not eftsons offended. 1828 Marly Life Planter Jamaica 78 To my own knowledge he often tries to dissuade. 1883 Sir W. B. Brett in Law Rep. 11 Q.B. Div. 512 The article was, to the knowledge of the defendant, supplied for the use of the wife. Mod. He has not been here to-day to my knowledge. |
21. After words expressing comparison, proportion, correspondence, agreement or disagreement, and the like: see also these words themselves.
In some cases now replaced by or interchangeable with other prepositions, esp. with; after worthy, and words denoting precise proportion, as double, now replaced by of; after different, from is considered more correct. After like adj. and adv., to is now usually omitted. See these words.
| c 1290 Beket 324 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 116 He nam..þan clerkene Robe, ase to is stat bi-cam. a 1300– [see like a. 1 a]. 1382 Wyclif Heb. xi. 38 To which the world was not worthi. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 45 Þe proporcioun of þe roundenesse aboute of a cercle is to þe brede as is þe proporcioun of two and twenty to seuene. 1470–85 Malory Arthur v. viii. 175 Arthur.., to whome none erthely prynce may compare. 1550 Crowley Way to Wealth Sel. Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 133 The rentes be..some double, some triple, and some four fould to that they were. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 38, I can finde out no rime to Ladie but babie, an innocent rime. 1651 Wittie Primrose's Pop. Err. 432 Those things which are the same [= equal] to one third are the same among themselves. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Antiq. Dissert. i, This..testimony..exactly agrees to him under that character. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneers iii, Strangely contrasted to the chill aspect of the lake. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 17 Lewis was not inferior to James in generosity and humanity, and was..far superior to James in all the abilities..of a statesman. |
† b. After an adj. in the comparative degree: Than. Now rare or Obs. (Cf. inferior to, superior to, in prec. sense.)
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems i. 590 Nys none of wymman beter ibore To seint Iohan þe baptyste. 14.. MS. Harl. 2261 lf. 225 An oþer Decius, yonger to hym. 1569 J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 69 There are..philosophers..herein no lesse ridiculouse to the poetes, which write [etc.]. 1771 T. Hull Sir W. Harrington (1797) IV. 108 The really good are so far less in number to the bad. 1895 P. White King's Diary 96 A more formal repast, fashioned on a smaller scale to that provided at Langdale. |
22. Expressing relation (generally or vaguely): In respect of, concerning, about, of, as to (see as adv. 33). Now only in special collocations.
In to name (obs.), to trade, etc. (Sc. and north. dial.), now expressed by ‘by’.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19806 Cornelius to nam he hight. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 179/1 Reporte her advise what shuld be doon to the Articles comprised in the said Bille. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxxix. (Arb.) 105 He was lyghter to fote than he. 1513 Douglas æneis i. v. 69 The ȝoung child, quhilk now Ascanius hecht, And to suirname clepit Iulus. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 62 What's this to my Lysander? 1593 ― Rich. II, i. i. 110 What sayest thou to this? 1656 Burton Diary (1828) I. 136 There was one Mr. Thorne..examined to the seal of the statute, whether the seal wanted not all the wax. 1693 J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. 308 Being conscious to my own inabilities. a 1716 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. 312 In speaking to the first of these Heads. 1724 Ramsay Clout the Caldron i, I am a tinkler to my trade. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 72 What will Doris say to it? 1892 Guardian 6 Jan. 8/3 Asking questions intended to show the untrustworthy character of a witness, or, as it is technically called, ‘cross-examining to credit’. |
23. Expressing relative position: esp. in Geom.
In some instances allied to senses 5, 16.
| 1570– [see perpendicular A. 2]. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 56 Parallel to the equinoctiall. 1660 Barrow Euclid iii. Prop. xvi. Coroll., A right line drawn from the extremity of the diameter of a circle, and at right angles, is a tangent to the said circle. 1796 [see asymptote]. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 58 Inclined to the horizon. 1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain 147 Unable to see how they lie to each other. 1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 718/1 Turned round so as to place the micrometer tangentially to the circle. 1892 [see right angle b]. |
VII. Expressing relations in which the sense of direction tends to blend with that of the dative.
24. After words denoting application, attention, or the like, indicating the object of this. Also (arch. or rhet.) with ellipsis of go, betake oneself, etc. (in imperative, or after an auxiliary).
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 115 Hire feder hefde iset hire earliche to lare. c 1290– [see listen v. 2 b]. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 10104 How that an Ampte, a best smal..To nouht elles doth entende, But on thys hylle vp tascende. c 1485 Digby Myst. iii. 758, I synful creature, to grace I woll a-plye. a 1553 Udall Royster D. iv. viii, Too it againe, my knightesses! 1616 Marlowe's Faust. vi, Let's to it presently. 1653 Walton Angler ii. 47 I'll to my own Art. 1710 Palmer Proverbs 254 To it they went with great fury. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xvii. 294 We fell to digging. 1843 Blackw. Mag. LIV. 219 Come, lads, all hands to work! |
25. Expressing impact (cf. 1, 5 a) or attack: At, against, upon.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 62 Vre vo..scheot..mo cwarreaus to one ancre þen to seouene & seouenti lefdies iðe worlde. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 312 [He] set a sege to the castele. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxiv, Take thi schild and thi spere, And ride to him a course on werre. 1569 St. Papers Eliz., Foreign XI. 151 He had forces sufficient to make head to his enemies. 1641 Brome Jov. Crew iv. i, Heark! they knock to the Dresser. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xviii. xii, Western..with his hunting voice and phrase, cried out, ‘To her, boy, to her, go to her’. 1832 Sir J. Campbell Mem. II. ii. 46, I presented it [the gun] to him without any other idea but that of intimidation. 1882 G. Macdonald Weighed & Wanting III. xviii. 256 His father's unmerciful use of the whip to him. 1888, 1889 [see take v. 24 b]. |
b. After words denoting opposition or hostility: Against; towards (obs. or arch.). † In quot. 1670 simply: Against, so as to prevent (obs.).
Cf. to one's face, teeth, etc., in 5 b.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1230 Hade þe fader..neuer trepast to him in teche of mysseleue. 1388 Wyclif Ps. l. 6 [li. 4], I haue synned to thee aloone. Ibid. lxxxiv. 6 Whether thou schalt be wrooth to vs withouten ende? 1526 Tindale Col. iii. 13 If eny man have a quarrel to a nother. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 43 To the disposing of it nought rebell'd. 1670 Walton Life Herbert Pref., To embalm and preserve his sacred body to putrefaction. 1741 Middleton Cicero (1742) I. iv. 264 Clodius had an old grudge to the King, for refusing to ransom him. 1901 G. Douglas Ho. w. Green Shutters 261 He had a triple wrath to his son. |
26. Indicating the object of speech, address, or the like; sometimes more vaguely: Before, in the presence (sight, hearing) of.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. vi. xxxiv. §2 He cwæð to ðæm folce. c 1000 ælfric Gen. vi. 13 God cwæð þa to Noe. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1135 Durste nan man sei to him naht bute god. c 1230– [see answer v. 12 b]. a 1300 Cursor M. 25312 If þou prais [= prayest] to godd þat he..þi sinnes forgiue to þe. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 208 Another rowned to his felawe lowe. 1609 Bible (Douay) 1 Kings xviii. 6 The wemen came forth..singing and dancing to Saul the King. a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieut. i. i, Did you not mark a woman, my son rose to? 1711 Addison Spect. No. 60 ¶2 An Hymn in Hexameters to the Virgin Mary. 1820 Shelley Skylark 1 Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! |
b. In honour of; for the worship of (as to build a temple or altar to); in salutation of and expression of good wishes for (as to drink to: see also 12 a, and drink v. 13 b).
| 1382 Wyclif Acts xix. 24 Sum man..makinge siluerene housis to Dian. 1388 ― Acts xvii. 23, Y..foond an auter, in which was writun, To the vnknowun God. 1530– [see drink v. 13 b]. 1592– [see here adv. 2 b]. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 62 Her face o' fire With labour, and the thing she tooke to quench it She would to each one sip. 1616 B. Jonson Forest, To Celia 1 Drink to me, only with thine eyes. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 462 ¶4 With continual toasting Healths to the Royal Family. 1838 Thirlwall Greece II. xvi. 353 They erected an altar to the father of the gods. |
27. Expressing response or the like (of a voluntary agent); e.g. reply (to a statement, question, etc.), obedience or disobedience (to a command, etc.).
| 1297– [see assent v. 1, 4]. 1382, c 1400– [see answer v. 12 l, d]. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1123 Wylde bestes & folys of flyȝt To here clepynge wolde come. 1582 Allen Martyrd. Campion (1908) 68 A proclamation was red..and at the end thereof was said, God save the Queene. To which he said, Amen. 1641 R. Carpenter Experience i. ch. xvii. 116 When the silly Shepheard commeth to his call. 1754 Richardson Grandison V. xliv. 283, I will write to your letter. a 1766 F. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph V. 115 Disobedience to his orders. 1897 Badminton Mag. Apr. 451 The next step is to take the pups out..and make them drop to hand. |
b. Expressing reaction or responsive action (of an involuntary or inanimate agent); the object of to denoting the agent causing this.
| 1682 Otway Venice Preserved ii. i, My heart beats to this Man as if it knew him. 1768 Beattie Minstr. i. iii, His harp..Which to the whistling wind responsive rung. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. x, Full many a scutcheon and banner..Shook to the cold night-wind. 1815 ― Guy M. iii, Little waves..sparkling to the moonbeams. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Concl. 64 The dead leaf trembles to the bells. |
28. Expressing exposure (of a thing to some physical agent).
| 1460–70 Bk. Quintessence 9 Sette it to the strong sunne in somer tyme. c 1500 Melusine xxx. 226 Mounted vpon a grete hors, his banere to the wynd. 1526 Tindale Acts xxvii. 40 They..hoysed vppe the mayne sayle to the wynde. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 39 That tower of strength Which stood four-square to all the winds that blew. |
VIII. Supplying the place of the dative in various other languages and in the earlier stages of English itself.
29. Introducing the recipient of anything given, or the person or thing upon whom or which an event acts or operates.
In OE. as in Latin, etc., expressed by the simple dative or indirect object; after give, befall, and various other verbs, to is still often omitted.
| [c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §13 Ohthere sæde his hlaforde, ælfrede cyninge, þæt [etc.]. Ibid. iv. vi. §15 He him ᵹeswor on his goda noman þæt [etc.]. Ibid. iv. x. §6 He hit het ðæm folce dælan. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. xlviii. 368 Godes æ, þe us forbiet deoflum to offrianne. a 900 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xxi[i]. 23 [25] Ic ᵹylde min ᵹehat Drihtne.] |
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8183 Tancred & biaumond,..god herte hom nome to. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 533 Mars ȝaf to hire corone red parde. 1477–9 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 89 Paid to the Skauagers..viijd. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxlix. 568 All..were ioyful of that aduenture that was fallen to the emperoure. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. II. 336 Great dishonour would redound to us. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 138 By promise he receaves Gift to his Progenie of all that Land. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 123 ¶4 Having a Son born to him. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 51 Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay. 1850 R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. (1902) 47/1, I fired two shots at them..during the night, but none fell to my shots. 1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 156 He lost his heart to Peg Woffington. |
b. Used esp. after be, become, seem, appear, mean, to indicate the recipient of an impression, the holder of a view or opinion; to be (something) to, to be (something) in the eyes, view, apprehension, or opinion of; also, to be of importance or concern to: what is that to you? What does that matter to you? How does that concern you? What have you to do with that?
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 32 As hit semeþ to vre siht. 1565 T. Stapleton tr. Staphylus' Apol. 148 To these men Luther is a papist, and Caluin is the right..prophet. 1590–1908 [see seem v. 7]. 1798 Wordsw. Peter Bell i. xii, A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more. 1850 J. H. Newman Diffic. Anglic. i. ii. (1891) I. 46 Faith has one meaning to a Catholic, another to a Protestant. 1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. xi, Scarcely big enough for a hunter to my fancy. 1862 [see appear v. 2]. Mod. To me it is simply absurd. |
| [c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xxi. 22 Huæd is ðe bi ðy? vel huæt is ðec ðæs? Vulg. Quid ad te?] c 1000 Ags. Gosp. ibid., Hwæt to þe? 1382 Wyclif ibid., What to thee? sue thou me. 1526 Tindale ibid., What is that to the? folowe thou me. 1526 ― Matt. xxvii. 4 What is that to vs? se thou to that. 1611 Bible Lam. i. 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that passe by? 1674 Grew Anat. Trunks ii. ii. §3 What the Mouth is, to an Animal; that the Root is to a Plant. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 328 What's that to you? Mod. It means a great deal to him. |
30. Indicating the person or thing for whose benefit, use, disposal, or the like, anything is done or exists: For; for the use or benefit of; for (some one) to deal with or dispose of (esp. after leave vb.); at the disposal of. to oneself (as pred.), to or at one's own disposal, free from the approaches or action of others.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7136 Vpe holi relikes harald suor to willam bastard Treuliche to wite engelond to him. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1033 To mangeneles he dide make stones. 1382 Wyclif Rom. xiv. 6–8 He that etith, etith to the Lord... No man of vs lyueth to hym silf, and no man deieth to him silf. Sothli where we lyuen, we lyuen to the Lord; where we deien, we deien to the Lord. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 17214 The Gregais wol not hir bodi grauen, But let hit ligge to roke & rauen. c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 100 It availeþ to al woundez for to hold þam opne. 1474 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 70 Gevin to Johne of Murray.. to pay for clathis coft to Rannald gunnare. 1502 Ibid. II. 346 For ane gus to the Kingis halkis. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. ii. v, I'll first assay To get the Persian kingdom to myself. 1611 Bible Lev. xxiii. 22 Neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy haruest: thou shalt leaue them vnto the poore, and to the stranger. 1653 Walton Angler viii. 169 That hope and patience which I wish to all Fishers. 1695 Dryden Parallel Poetry & Paint. Ess. (ed. Ker) II. 153 The rest is left to the imagination. 1700 Marwood Diary in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 77 At 8 in the morn we took a Wagon to Our selves to Dunkerque. 1709–10 Steele Tatler No. 118 ¶10 Your petitioner..worked to the Exchange, and to several Aldermens wives. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Jan. 109 Topped and tailed [turnips]..which I hope to preserve as food to my ewes at lambing time. 1822 W. Irving in Life & Lett. (1864) II. 84 In the country, where I can be more to myself. 1895 Froude Erasmus xv. 320 Religious houses were dissolved, their property seized to the State. Mod. We had the railway-carriage all to ourselves. |
b. Indicating the person or thing towards which an action, feeling, etc., is directed; esp. as the object of conduct, behaviour, or demeanour.
to you, an elliptical phrase of courtesy or deference, = ‘my service to you’ or the like (quot. 1855).
| c 970–c 1060 Wifmannes Beweddung c. 7 in Liebermann Gesetze 442 Ðæt hire man nan woh to ne do. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 240 Se is hyra and na hyrde, seðe..næfð inweardlice lufe to Godes sceapum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 31 Nat ic hwer heo beoð þeo men þe ic þene herm to dude. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5824 To þe godnesse of þe holymon þe deuel adde enuye. c 1430 How Gd. Wijf tauȝte hir Douȝtir 163 in Babees Bk. 44 To do to þem as þou woldist be doon to. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 286 ¶1 That natural Horror we have to Evil. a 1758 Dyer Down Among the Dead Men iii, Bacchus is a friend to Love. 1855 Dickens Holly-Tree ii, ‘I should wish you to find from themselves whether your opinion is correct’. ‘Sir, to you’, says Cobbs, ‘that shall be done directly’. |
31. Used in the syntactical construction of many intransitive verbs. (See also preceding senses, and the verbs themselves.)
| 1583 Babington Commandm. viii. (1637) 73 Modesty in this hungry creature must yeeld to necessity. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 817 'Tis in vain..[to] trust to Physick. 1769 Goldsm. Hist. Rome (1786) II. 61 That homage to which they had aspired. 1834 Wordsw. Yarrow Revisited viii, While they minister to thee. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 654, I have already alluded to the fact. 1875 Poste Gaius i. Comm. (ed. 2) 87 The issue of a Denizen cannot inherit to him. |
b. After testify, witness, attest, swear, subscribe, confess, speak, etc.: In support of; in assertion or acknowledgement of.
For assent to see 27; cf. also 21.
| 1630 Prynne Anti-Armin. 75 Conclusions which euery man must subscribe too. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 259 ¶6 The Prisoner brought several Persons of good Credit to witness to her Reputation. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. ix. xiv. §2 Menander attests to it. 1771– [see confess v. 6]. 1776 Trial of Nundocomar 79/1 That is a fact to which I can speak. 1776 Trial J. Fowke c. 28/2, I took his affidavit to the truth of the contents of the Letters. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. xix. 157 He would swear to the person from whom he received the note. 1884 Manch. Exam. 7 July 4/6 The hon. gentlemen spoke to a resolution congratulating the Government on the passing of the Franchise Bill. |
c. In obsolete, archaic, or dialectal use: chiefly representing an OE. dative or French const. with à; now omitted, the verb being treated as trans.
| a 1325–c 1450 [see please v. 1, 3 a]. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 362 Who shulde..mor obe[i]she to þe pope þan to Crist? 1382 ― Dan. iii. 57 (Benedicite) Blesse ȝe, alle the werkis of the Lord, to the Lord. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xvi. 90 Serue to God. Ibid. ii. xv. 234 Bileue thou to me. 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus, Wars Jews ii. xxvi. (1733) 654 They should renounce to all manner of unlawful Violences. 1800 A. Swanston Serm. & Lect. (1803) II. 318 Titus and..Timotheus also were present and assisting to the apostle. 1874 Swinburne Bothwell v. iv, If I did ill to seek to that strong hand. |
32. In the syntactical const. of many transitive verbs, introducing the indirect or dative object. (See also preceding senses, and the verbs themselves.)
| a 1300 [see sense 26]. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2128 (Ariadne) Now be we duchessis..And sekerede to the regalys of Athenys. c 1450 Cov. Myst. xiv. (1841) 141 To God in this case my cawse I have betaught. 1581 in Allen Martyrd. Campion (1908) 15 Her Maiestie will preferre him to great livings. 1666 Pepys Diary 4 June, We fought them and put them to the run. 1779 Mirror No. 21 ¶1 This day's paper I devote to Correspondents. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 142 To admit Roman Catholics to municipal advantages. |
b. In obsolete, archaic, or dialectal use; now replaced by other prepositions, or by different constructions. See under the vbs.
| c 1500 Melusine vi. 32 Many..shall axe to you tydynges of the Erle. 1534 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. I. 387 To answer unto suche thinges as then shalbe leyed and obiected to you. 1537 Bury Wills 130, I put them to the dysposycion of myne executo{supr}s. 1558 in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. App. iv. 5 Not to pardon, till they..put themselves wholly to her highness's mercy. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 37 We now had associated ourselves to a jolly company of Merchants. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xl. 410 The French hostages were put to liberty at Windsor. 1780 Mirror No. 87 ¶3 To masses and crucifixes, and images, were substituted a precise severity of manner, and long sermons, and a certain mode of sanctifying the Sabbath. 1794 G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. xi. 465 If an alkali be substituted to the turnsole. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneers xii, His mild features were confronted to the fierce..looks of the chief. |
33. Expressing the relation of an adj. (or derived adv. or n.) to a n. denoting a person or thing to which its application is directed or limited.
In the construction of such adjs. as accessible, adverse, agreeable, beneficial, common, complaisant, constant, difficult, due, easy, equal, essential, faithful, false, familiar, favourable, friendly, good, grateful, hostile, hurtful, impossible, incredible, injurious, kind, liable, manifest, natural, near, necessary, obedient, possible, proper, requisite, salutary, similar, subject, suitable, true, useful, visible, welcome, etc., q.v., with their opposites; also, in a special sense, alive, dead, deaf, blind, insensible; also many adj. phrases, as with child, in calf, of use, of value (see the ns.).
[In OE. mostly expressed by the dative: e.g. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xiv. §3 Þam neatum is ᵹecynde. c 893 ― Oros. i. i. §3 Þa sindon neh þæm garsecge. Ibid. i. vii. §1 Hy..him ᵹehyrsume wæron. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. xxxvi. 260 Hwa sceal..Gode unðoncfull beon?]
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxiv. §2 Forðæm hit bið ofdælre ðærto. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxv. [xxiv.] (1890) 348 Hwæþer heo ealle smolt mod &..bliðe to him hæfdon. 971 Blickl. Hom. 103 Hi wæron to deaþe ᵹearwe. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 60 Þa wæs Abraham..ᵹearo to Godes hæse. 1303– [see common a. 3]. 1382– [see necessary a.] 1393– [see due a. 5 a, 9]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 226 Beoþ nat vnkynde..to ȝoure emcristene. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xxviii. (Bodl. MS.), Hire crye is loþe and odios to oþer byrdes. c 1450– [see open a. 15]. 1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert 112 He..was in gret opinion both to þe Pope & þe court. 1576– [see familiar a. 6]. 1593– [see liable 3 a]. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 289 As deere to me, as are the ruddy droppes That visit my sad heart. 1607 [see deaf a. 2]. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 303 Inuisible To euery eye-ball else. 1612– [see essential a. 4]. 1632 Massinger City Madam v. iii, You are constant to your purposes. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 864 Grateful to Heav'n. 1711 [see cold a. 7]. 1726 [see dead a. 3]. 1727 Hartlepool Par. Reg., Mary Farding..murdered by William Stephenson..to whom she was pregnant. 1759 [see blind a. 2 b]. 1777 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 14 Apr., This..is new to me. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's viii, Induced to form conclusions not very favourable to his character. 1835 J. Duncan Beetles 151 Pervious to air and moisture. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 279 True to nature. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet ii. xii, You are welcome to all my cast-off lovers. 1886 Manch. Exam. 3 Nov. 3/1 Comte..lays himself specially open to attack. 1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 80 He was always alive to the value of his wares. 1897 F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) LXIV. 163/2 What is permissible to a critic is not impermissible to a counter-critic. 1905 Oswestry & Border Cos. Advert. 1 June (Advt.), The Cows and Heifers..in-calf to a grand Pedigree Shorthorn Bull. |
b. After pa. pples. of verbs of perception (now only with known, unknown; nearly = by). (Cf. familiar to, visible to, etc.) In OE. with dative.
| [c 893 K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §27 Hit is feawum mannum cuð.] a 1225 Ancr. R. 204 Heo beoð..to monie al to kuðe. 13.. Cursor M. 10621 (Cott.) Þaa þat þis maiden was to cuth. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 432 It is hyd to us whyche of hem ben seynts. c 1450 Love Bonavent. Mirr. lxi. (Gibbs MS.) lf. 115 Þai weren noȝt seen to hyre. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Sam. vi. 3 It shalbe knowen to you, why hys hand departeth not from you. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John 47 God was seene and heard to Moses. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 188 A man long knowne to me. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 149 His house was known to all the vagrant train. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 157 They acted under no authority known to the law. |
34. Book-keeping. Placed before debit entries, and followed by particulars of the goods or services for which money has been paid, or by the name of the account containing the corresponding credit entry. Cf. by prep. 37.
| 1772 in Country Life (1973) 7 June (Suppl.) 104 To mending a Waiter & Candlestick & a Sauceboat 5s. 1803 G. Colman John Bull iii i. 31 These charges are brought in like a bill!—To attending your ladyship at such a time—to dancing down twenty couple at another. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 46 To J. Bevan and Co., for Bales, ex ‘Mary Jane’ {pstlg}2349 os. od. 1901 Jrnl. R. Microsc. Soc. 109 The Treasurer's Account for 1900... To Balance from 1899..{pstlg}195 11s. 3d. 1968 G. M. Whitehead Book-Keeping made Simple v. 79 Whenever a debit entry is made on an account we begin with the word ‘To’ and follow with the name of the account where the other half of the double entry is to be found. 1978 J. Kellock Elements of Accounting i. 11 In many accounting text books the words ‘To’ and ‘By’ are used to preface debit and credit entries respectively in the ledger... These prefixes are now being discontinued in modern accounting systems. |
35. Preceding the names of a person or group of persons who use a specified name or expression: in the language or usage of.
| 1922 P. S. O'Hegarty Terence MacSwiney ii. 3 Terence James MacSwiney on the baptismal register, but Terry always to his friends and to Cork generally, was born in Cork City on March 28th, 1879. 1941 Poor Souls' Friend June 111 Her father, Edmund William Roe (Ted to his friends) was a man of character and great individuality. 1956 J. Brodrick St Ignatius Loyola i. 12 In the Basque countries (to the Basques Euskalerria). 1970 Outlook Mar. 34 Owen Glyn Dwr—Glendower to the Anglo-Saxon—was the Welsh prince who made most of the mischief. 1977 Transatlantic Rev. lx. 118 Lindy (Miss Hoffmann to the kids) had to glide it back down to them. |
B. to before an infinitive (or gerund: see 22).
History:—Beside the simple infinitive, or verbal substantive in -an (ME. -en, -e), OE., like the other WGer. languages, had a dat. form of the same or a closely-related n., which in OE. ended in -anne, -enne, in ME. reduced successively to -ene, -en, -e, and was thus at length levelled with the simple infinitive, and with it reduced to the uninflected verb-stem. This dative form was always preceded or ‘governed’ by the preposition tó ‘to’. By many German writers it is called the ‘gerund’, after the Latin verbal n. in -ndum. In mod.Eng. the functions of the Latin gerund are more properly discharged by the vbl. n. in -ing, and it is therefore more convenient to speak of the OE. form in -anne as the ‘dative infinitive’ or ‘infinitive with to’. Originally, to before the dative infinitive had the same meaning and use as before ordinary substantives, i.e. it expressed motion, direction, inclination, purpose, etc., toward the act or condition expressed by the infinitive; as in ‘he came to help (i.e. to the help of) his friends’, ‘he went to stay there’, ‘he prepared to depart (i.e. for departure)’, ‘it tends to melt’, ‘he proceeded to speak’, ‘looking to receive something’. But in process of time this obvious sense of the prep. became weakened and generalized, so that tó became at last the ordinary link expressing any prepositional relation in which an infinitive stands to a preceding verb, adjective, or substantive. Sometimes the relation was so vague as scarcely to differ from that between a transitive verb and its object. This was esp. so when the vb. was construed both transitively and intransitively. There were several verbs in OE. in this position, such as onginnan to begin, ondrǽdan to dread, bebéodan to bid, order, bewerian to forbid, prevent, ᵹel{iacu}efan to believe, þencean to think, etc.; these are found construed either with the simple (accusative) infinitive, or with tó and the dative infinitive. There was also a special idiomatic use (sense 13 a) of the infinitive with tó as an indirect nominative, where logically the simple infinitive might be expected. From these beginnings, the use of the infinitive with to in place of the simple infinitive, helped by the phonetic decay and loss of the inflexions and the need of some mark to distinguish the infinitive from other parts of the verb and from the cognate n., increased rapidly during the late OE. and early ME. period, with the result that in mod.Eng. the infinitive with to is the ordinary form, the simple infinitive surviving only in particular connexions, where it is very intimately connected with the preceding verb (see below). To a certain extent, therefore, i.e. when the infinitive is the subject or direct object, to has lost all its meaning, and become a mere ‘sign’ or prefix of the infinitive. But after an intrans. vb., or the passive voice, to is still the preposition. In appearance, there is no difference between the infinitive in ‘he proceeds to speak’ and ‘he chooses to speak’; but in the latter to speak is the equivalent of speaking or speech, and in the former of to speaking or to speech. In form, to speak, is the descendant of OE. tó specanne; in sense, it is partly the representative of this and largely of OE. specan.
(The simple infinitive, without to, remains: 1. after the auxiliaries of tense, mood, periphrasis, shall, will; may, can; do; and the quasi-auxiliaries, must, (and sometimes) need, dare: 2. after some vbs. of causing, etc.; make, bid, let, have, in sense 15 a; 3. after some vbs. of perception, see, hear, feel, and some tenses of know, observe, notice, perceive, etc., in sense 15 b; 4. after had liefer, rather, better, sooner, as lief, as soon, as good, as well, etc.: see have v. 22, rather adv. 9 d, and the other words.)
The infinitive with to may be dependent on an adj., a n., or a vb., or it may stand independently. To an adj. it stands in adverbial relation: ready to fight = ready for fighting; to a n. it stands in adjectival or sometimes adverbial relation: a day to remember = a memorable day; to a vb. it may stand in an adverbial or substantival relation: to proceed to work = to proceed to working; to like to work = to like working.
I. With infinitive in adverbial relation.
* Indicating purpose or intention.
1. a. Dependent on a vb., to with inf. = in order to; equivalent to that or in order that with subjunctive, or to for or for the purpose of with gerund.
For in order to, on purpose to, see order n. 28 b (b), purpose n. 11 b.
The implied subject of the inf. may be either a subject or an object in the principal clause.
(a) Dependent on a verb of motion.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. i. (1890) 96 Moniᵹe cwomon to bicgenne þa ðing. a 900 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xxvi. 4 [xxvii. 3] Þeah hi arisan onᵹean me to feohtanne. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark iv. 3 Eode ðe sawende..to sawenne. 971 Blickl. Hom. 165 To hwon eodan ᵹe to westenne..witᵹan to secenne. 1205 Lay. 5238 Heo wolden fære to Rome to wreken o þon folke. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3523 Þat he to him wende To helpe him in suche nede. 1388 Wyclif Matt. iv. 1 Thanne Jhesus was led of a spirit in to desert, to be temptid of the feend. Ibid. xi. 8 Or what thing wenten ȝe out to see [1382 for to seen]? 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 3, I get me into my Closet to serue God. 1592 [see 10]. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 180 Fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray. 1890 Chamb. Jrnl. 28 June 408/1 We made sail to return to Perim. Mod. She ran to meet her father. |
(b) Dependent on other verbs.
| Beowulf (Z.) 2562 Ða wæs hring-boᵹan heorte ᵹefysed sæcce to seceanne. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xiv. [xi.] (1890) 296 Ða ᵹearwodon heo his lichoman to byrᵹenne. a 901 Laws of ælfred c. 62 §27 ᵹif fyr sie ontended ryht to bærnenne. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ii. 13 Herodes sæcas ðone cnæht to fordoanne. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxxvi. (Baptista) 842 Þan þe basare hewit on hicht His hand, to strik, gif he mycht. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. ix. 533 As men may be a roundall se, Merkit to be delt in thre. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 269 Bothe pore and riche labouryd righte sore, encrese to gete. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI 146 b, To have a Rowland to resist an Oliver. 1627 Milton Vac. Exerc. 24 Thoughts that..loudly knock to have their passage out. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 70, I gave a soldier five dollars to carry them news. 1787 Cowper Stanzas Yearly Bill Mort. 14 Like crowded forest trees we stand, And some are mark'd to fall. 1859 Ruskin Two Paths iv. §110 As our bodies, to be in health, must be generally exercised, so our minds, to be in health, must be generally cultivated. |
b. Dependent on an adj.; indicating the purpose or function to which the adj. refers.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. ii. i. (1890) 98 Þæt he selfa ᵹeara wære..þæt weorc to fremmenne. a 900 Ags. Ps. (Th.) xiii. 6 Heora fet beoð swiðe hraðe blod to ᵹeotanne. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. v. 51 God..make cleer ȝoure vnderstondynge to persayue þe sacrament of þis science. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lxviii. 410 The lye..is very good to washe the scurffe of the head. Mod. Are they quite good to eat? |
c. Dependent on a n.; the inf. expressing the use or function of that which is denoted by the n.
The advb. use may be explained as qualifying the adj. ‘intended, adapted’ before to.
| c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xix. [xxvii.] (1890) 242 Bec on to leornienne [hi] ᵹefon. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iii. xi. §3 Þonne seo leo bringð his hungreᵹum hwelpum hwæt to etanne. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxiii. 771 To syke men made is he Medicyn, hem to mende. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 277 A plastir to cure þe wounde of Rome. 1526 Tindale Luke ii. 32 A light to lighten the gentyls. 1609 Bible (Douay) Numb. iv. 16 The oyle to dresse the lampes. 1716 in J. O. Payne Eng. Cath. Nonjurors of 1715 348 One ciborium of silver, to preserve the consecrated Host. a 1845 Hood Lay of Labourer i, A hook to reap, or a scythe to mow. |
(b) After time, room, and words of similar meaning: equivalent to for with gerund (cf. a), or = at or in which (one) can or should..(cf. 11 b, c).
| 13.. Cursor M. 11814 (Cott.) Nu neghes tim to tak his lai. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2000 (Ariadne) Rowm..To welde an axe. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 658 To rekne hem alle I haue as now no tyme. 1597 J. Payne Royal Exch. 5 Now ys the tyme..to help one another. 1635 Quarles Embl. i. vii. 3 Is this a time to pay thine idle vowes At Morpheus Shrine? 1858 Mill Liberty iv. (1873) 57 [There was] no time to warn him of his danger. 1887 ‘L. Carroll’ Game of Logic iv. 96 The time to learn is when you're young. |
2. In absolute or independent construction, usually introductory or parenthetic.
to be sure, to wit: see these words.
| c 1305 St. Kenelm 266 in E.E.P. (1862) 54, & to telle hit wiþoute rym þuse wordes riȝt hit were. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1037 And schortly to concluden, swich a place Was noon in erthe. c 1450 Cov. Myst. xiii. (1841) 129 Than ferther to oure matere to procede, Mary with Elizabeth abod. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 8 He keepes me rustically at home, or (to speak more properly) staies me heere at home vnkept. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 922 Nor was his eare less peal'd With noises loud and ruinous (to compare Great things with small) then when Bellona storms [etc.]. 1711 Addison Spect. No 26 ¶6 But to return to our Subject. 1858 Mill Liberty iv. (1873) 53 The pleasure, not to say the useful recreation, of many, is worth the labour of a few. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. vi. xcix. 387 All their ins and outs (to use an American phrase). |
** Indicating objectivity.
3. Dependent on various verbs, chiefly transitive, passive, or reflexive, with weakened sense of purpose: indicating an action, etc. to which that of the principal verb is in some way directed. (See also the verbs themselves; and in particular, for specific uses, be v. 16, have v. B. 7 c, need v.2 8, ought v. B. 5. Cf. also 14 below.)
The subject of the principal clause is also the implicit subject of the infinitive: so also in other senses below, except where the contrary is stated.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xli. 302 Weorðen ᵹeniedde hiera unðeawas to herianne & to weorðianne. Ibid. lvi. 433 Ða ðe ær ðenceað to syngianne. a 900 ― Soliloquy (1902) 46 æall þæt þu wilnast to habbenne. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xi. 6 Hiᵹ begunnon þis to wircanne. Ibid. xxvii. 41 Esau..þohte to ofsleanne Iacob. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 227 Hi..begunnon þa to worcen. c 1205 Lay. 18738–9 Þu..þrattest hine to slænne, And his cun to fordonne. Ibid. 24722 Þa..Þe king gon to spekene. c 1290 St. Gregory 50 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 357 Þou þencst..with þi conseil al rome to bi-traiȝe. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 12 Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages. c 1400 Destr. Troy 312 The Emperour Alexaunder Aunterid to come. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxi. 45 They determyned to crowne to their kyng this mayster Denyse. 1694 S. Meade in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1912) IX. 182 Her Husband thinks to come downe tomorrow. 1746 P. Francis tr. Horace, Art Poet. 36, I strive to be concise. |
b. In obsolete, archaic, or dialectal uses; now replaced by various prepositions with the gerund, or by other constructions. (See the vbs.)
| 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. 627 Every man fell to make his prayers to God. 1533 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 360, I shall aduyse yow to stay to doo [= refrain from doing] any thing. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 58 Unless they would..content themselves to winter at the Mauritius. 1749 G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists ii. (1754) 34 Her Spouse insisting to play another Game. 1871 G. Meredith H. Richmond III. 109 Abstaining to write to her. 1885 J. Hawthorne Love or Name 111 We don't aim to establish a monopoly. |
4. Dependent on various adjs. (and pples., and adjectival or predicative phrases): usually indicating the application of the adj., etc. For going to, used as future participle, see go v. 47 b. (See also senses 1 b, 7–9, and the adjs. themselves.)
| c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. iii. 11 æfter me cymeð se is me strængra þæt ic næm wyrþe scoas to beranne. a 1225 Juliana 5 (Bodl. MS.) Þes ȝunge mon..wes iwunet ofte to cumen wið him. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1431 Gwider..is truage athuld sone Of rome þat is eldore were iwoned to done. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 8559 Certayne To have endelos ioy. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1680 He is worthy to haue renown. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. xv. 3 The peple..Bene..moir sle To forge and carve lyflyk staturis of bras. 1651 W. Durham Maran-atha (1652) 4 Every man that is able to discipline souldiers. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 161 Careless their merits or their faults to scan. 1832 Tennyson Love thou thy Land 31 Not swift nor slow to change, but firm. 1838 Thirlwall Greece V. xlii. 229 She was at liberty to enforce her claims. Mod. I am ready to go. |
b. With inf. passive: altered from the active (see 9). arch.
| c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xi. (1885) 136 This was not possible to haue ben done. c 1483 Vulg. Terent. o 2 b, Whatt is best to be doon now? 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. I. 5 The fittest to be chosen. 1779 Mirror No. 21 ¶3 Incidents still more frequent, and less easy to be foreseen. 1870 Burton Hist. Scot. V. lxii. 382 She was hard to be entreated. |
5. Dependent on various abstract ns. (e.g. nouns of action from the vbs. in 3, or of quality from the adjs. in 4): usually indicating object or application, as in 3 and 4; also (after such words as favour, honour, pleasure) indicating an action which is the substance or form of that which is denoted by the n., i.e. in which it consists: often replaceable by of with gerund.
For ‘what has he to do, to..’ (= ‘what business has he to..’) and the like, see do v. 33 c.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxviii. §4 Ðæt hi..habbað leafe yfel to donne. 971 Blickl. Hom. 63 Us is mycel þearf to witenne þæt [etc.]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark ii. 10 Þæt mannes sunu hæfð anweald..synna to forgyfanne. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 15 Þat he geue us mihte and strengðe to forletene þesternesse, and to folȝie brictnesse. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 179 Ȝef us leve,..To faren of this lothe wyke. 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. l. 593 Haue non hope to liuen longe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xx. vii. 809 Ye haue no cause to loue sir Launcelot. 1525 Bp. Sampson in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 356 Means might be fownde to change hym. 1582 Allen Martyrd. Campion (1908) 113 This resolutnes of minde, and willingnes to die. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. Introd. Pref. (1848) 13, I..took Pleasure to imagine two or three of my Friends to be present with me. 1737 Swift Proposal for giving Badges, etc. Wks. 1751 IX. 301, I had the Honour to be a Member of it. 1842 R. I. Wilberforce Rutilius & Lucius 249 As though in act to spring. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xvi, Conscious of increased disinclination to tell his story. |
*** Indicating appointment or destination.
6. Indicating destiny, or (expected or actual) event or outcome. Dependent on vb., adj., or n.
See also come v. 24 b, get v. 32, leave v.1 5 b, live v.1 9.
| a 1380 St. Augustin 108 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1878) 63/2 Þei [the Manichees] forsok þat alle men Schulde rise in flesch, to lyue aȝen. 1445 in Anglia XXVIII. 269 No theef iss suffrid to lyen in weyes there felawes him lyke to make. 1638 G. Sandys Paraphr. Job xxvii. 34 Borne to begge their bread. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. July, Plant out Colliflowers, to blow in September. 1750 Gray Elegy xiv, Full many a flower is born to blush unseen. 1781 Cowper Charity 74 We come with joy from our eternal rest, To see the oppressor in his turn oppressed. 1808 Byron When we two parted 4 When we two parted..To sever for years. |
**** Indicating result or consequence.
7. Expressing result or consequence (potential or actual); esp. after so or such (now always with as before to = that with finite vb.: see as adv. B. 20), or enough, For inf. after than, see than 1 c.
With enough, too (see b), the subj. of the principal clause may be either the implied subj. or obj. of the inf., or obj. of a following prep. (cf. constructions in sense 11), or the subj. of the inf. may be a n. or pron. preceded by for, or may be unexpressed.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5158 Ne be nat proude..Yn þyn herte to make a rous. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 308, I haue yow toold ynowe To reyse a feend. 1577 Fulke Answ. True Christian 95 Be not so impudent, to charge vs with these crimes aboue the Papistes. 1611 Bible Gen. iii. 22 The man is become as one of us, to know good & euill. 1742 Fielding Jos. Andrews iv. iii, The Laws..are not so vulgar, to permit a mean Fellow to contend with one of your Ladyship's Fortune. 1865 Ruskin Sesame i. §15 He has only to speak a sentence..to be known for an illiterate person. 1877 Spurgeon Serm. XXIII. 537 A man who has light enough to know he is wrong but not grace enough to forsake the evil. 1884 Manch. Exam. 14 May 5/1 The Government have..done much to excite against them the fiercest antipathies of the Opposition. |
b. After too, with negative implication (too..to.. = so..as not to, or so..that..not..). See also too n. 2 b.
Here for with the gerund may often be substituted.
| a 1300 A Sarmun xxxv. in E.E.P. (1862) 5 Hit is to late whan þou ert þare To crie ihsu þin ore. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 4031 We are..to fewe to feghte with them all. c 1538 R. Cowley in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 98 Too lamentable to expres. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 113 b, It is nowe to late to examyne the licence. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 266 Cromwell hath too good a nose as to hunt vpon a false sent. 1665 [see too n. 2 b]. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 401 ¶ 4 My Answer would be too long to trouble you with. 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere ii, Too proud to care from whence I came. Mod. This tea is too hot to drink. The weight is too heavy for you to lift. |
***** Indicating occasion or condition.
8. Indicating occasion (passing into ground, reason, or cause): equivalent to at, in, on, for, of, by, etc. with gerund, or because with finite vb.
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 122 Wonder glad I was to see That lusty place. 1380 Lay Folks Catech. 220 (MS. L.) And so myȝt pardoun be gotun to sey [= by saying] yche day a lady sawter. 1508 Colyn Blowbol's Test. 22 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 93 An hors wold wepe to se the sorow he maide. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xlvii[i]. 5 They marveled to se soch thinges. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 343, I blusht to heare his monstrous deuices. 1596 ― Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 27 Goe girle, I cannot blame thee now to weepe. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. iii, I could not but smile to hear her talk in this lofty strain. 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere ii, I know you proud to bear your name. 1843 Macaulay Lays, Horatius xlix, All Etruria's noblest Felt their hearts sink to see On the earth the bloody corpses, In the path the dauntless Three. |
9. With inf. after an adj. or (predicate) n., in passive sense (equivalent to the L. supine in -u), the main n. of the principal clause being the implied object of the inf., or of a preposition following (or in ME. preceding).
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §11 Hi bioð swiðe eðe to tedælenne. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark ii. 9 Hwæt is eaður to coeðanne..? c 1200 Trin Coll. Hom. 31 Gode tiðinge and murie to heren. 13.. K. Alis. 6312 Heo buth the lothlokest men on to seon. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 705 A flour, þat es fayre to se. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvii. 274 Wylde men that ben hidouse to loken on. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 617 Gret Ruthe yt wase to se. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xii. 11 Thou art a fayre woman to loke vpon. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 101 Ere it be good to eat. 1736 Thomson Liberty v. 456 Oh! shame to think! 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. i, Deadly to hear, and deadly to tell. 1899 W. T. Greene Cage-Birds 71 Macaws..very gorgeous creatures to look at. |
10. With inf. expressing a fact or supposition which forms the ground of the statement in the principal clause, or is considered in connexion with it; equivalent to in with gerund, or that, in that, considering that (or sometimes if) with finite vb.
| 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2544 Sire, thou art wel nice, To leue [= believe] so mochel thin emperice. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 481 He dothe wronge to leve me here. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. i. 23 Par. Come you to make confession to this Father? Iul. To answere that, I should confesse to you. 1610 ― Temp. iii. i. 37, I haue broke your hest to say so. 1706 Addison Rosamund i. iii, Thou art a rustic to call me so. 1846 W. E. Forster in Reid Life (1888) I. vi. 186 What a strange little mortal he is, to be ruler of a mighty nation. 1884 R. W. Church Bacon iii. 59 He was no mere idealist or recluse to under⁓value..the real grandeur of the world. 1887 ‘L. Carroll’ Game of Logic i. §1. 15 You will do well to work out a lot more for yourself. |
† b. With inf. equivalent to a conditional clause with indefinite subject (= if one were to..). Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 66 In al this world to seken vp and doun There nas no man so wys. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) ix. 81 Fro that hospitall, to go toward the Est, is a full fayr chirche. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii 89 To keepe them here, They would but stinke, and putrifie the ayre. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster iii. i, Bulls and Rams will fight, To keep their Females standing in their sight. |
II. With infinitive in adjectival relation.
11. With inf. in adjectival relation to a n.; either as predicate after the vb. to be (see be 16, 17), or immediately qualifying the n. a. Expressing intention or appointment (cf. 1, 6), and hence simply futurity (thus equivalent to a future participle). (a) with inf. act.: is to..= intends or is intended to.., is going to.., will...
| c 1000– [see come v. 33]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 287 Man þou art iwis To winne ȝut a kinedom. c 1420 Sir Amadas (Weber) 569 Yffe thou be a mon to wedde a wyfe, Y voche hyr save..On the. c 1460 Oseney Reg. 101 Thoo þat be present and to be. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iv. ii. 29, I am to discourse wonders... I will tell you euery thing as it fell out. 1596 ― Merch. V. i. i. 5 Whereof it is borne, I am to learne. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 113 A Nation from one faithful man to spring. 1693 South Serm. II. 113 He who is to pray..has more to consider of, than..his Heart can hold. 1779 Mirror No. 23 ¶3 He was not suffered to play with his equals, because he was to be the king of all sports. 1864 Browning Rabbi Ben Ezra i, The best is yet to be. |
(b) with inf. pass. (equivalent to Lat. gerundive): to be done = intended to be done, about to be done.
| c 1450 Cov. Myst. x. (1841) 96 Here is to be maryde a mayde ȝynge. 1585 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. V. 108 Articles to be ministred to Tho. Rowe. 1609 Holland Amm. Marcell. xxvi. i, Having a presage..of the businesse to bee performed. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. xii. 245 The happy minute of our being to be seized by the Dutch..ships. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 655 Leopold was to be appointed Viceroy. |
(c) with inf. act., the n. being the implicit object of the inf.; thus equivalent to the passive in (b).
As predicate, obs. in literary Eng. exc. in certain connexions, as a house to let (let v.1 8); when following a n., the n. is usu. governed by have (see have v. B. 7). to let, used absol. as n., is freq. applied attrib. to a board, sign, etc., indicating that premises are offered for rent.
| c 1200 Ormin Ded. 8 Witt hafenn takenn ba An reȝhellboc te follȝhenn. 14.. in Rel. Ant. I. 62 This poure man had suyn to selle. 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 134 For a hoke to sett on his dorr. 1595 Shakes. John i. i. 259 Were I to get againe,..I would not wish a better father. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 26 Oct., He has a son to educate. 1797 Canning Knife-Grinder ii, Knives and Scissars to grind O! 1852 M. Arnold Empedocles i. ii. 334 The mass..Of volumes yet to read, Of secrets to explore. 1886 F. H. Burnett Little Lord Fauntleroy xi. 174 He stopped opposite the empty house..staring at the ‘To Let’, and smoking his pipe. 1894 A. Morrison Martin Hewitt, Investigator ii. 80 The three shops..appeared not yet to have been occupied. A dusty ‘To Let’ bill hung in each window. 1903 A. Bennett Truth about an Author xv. 206 A To-let notice flourished suddenly in my front-garden. a 1912 Mod. Notice. This house to let or for sale. a 1912 Mod. I have much to tell. 1936 A. Christie ABC Murders vi. 46 A ‘To Let’ sign appeared in the windows. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. iii. 122 A vista of To Let boards. 1976 J. Bingham God's Defector v. 54 One day they have hope, a basement, a letter-head, and the next their place is occupied by a ‘To let’ sign. |
(d) with inf. followed (in ME. sometimes preceded) by a preposition, the n. being the implicit obj. of the prep.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xvii. 126 ᵹif ðær ðonne sie ᵹierd mid to ðreaᵹeanne, sie ðær eac stæf mid to wreðianne. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 89 He..bed hem bringen a wig one te riden. 1408–17 in Rec. St. Mary at Hill Introd. 96 Item, .j. short fourme with a tapete and Quysshynes to knele at. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 13 These great roomes..be Barnes to laye Corne in. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Rosette, Red Inke to rule bookes with. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 366 A Dry Season..is best to sow Barley and White Oats in. |
b. Expressing duty, obligation, or necessity. (a) with inf. act.: is to..= is bound to, has to.., must.., ought to...
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 216 The Ravyne..Was dene rurale to reid. a 1529 Skelton Phyllyp Sparow 401 Robyn red breste He shall be the preest The requiem masse to syng. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iii. 37 Thy Master is ship'd, and thou art to post after with oares. 1598 ― Merry W. iv. ii. 128 You are not to goe loose any longer, you must be pinnion'd. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iii, I'm yet to thank you for choosing my little library. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 July 5/2 The Southerners, with only one wicket to fall, were 259 runs to the bad. 1887 ‘L. Carroll’ Game of Logic i. §1. 9 What, then, are you to do? |
(b) with inf. pass. (= L. gerundive): is to be..= is proper to be, ought to be.., should be.., need be...
The inf. pass. is also occasionally used as adj. preceding the n.; now with hyphens, as to-be-dreaded = dreadful.
| 1382 Wyclif John xxi. 25, I deme neither the world him silf to mowe take tho bookis, that ben to be writun. c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 49 That is..most profitable, and rather to be chosen. 1560–78 Bk. Discipl. Ch. Scot. (1621) 61 Unprofitable questions are to be avoided. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pest. v. iii, There's no more to be said. 1774 Burke Amer. Tax. 32 If, Sir, the conduct of ministry..had arisen from timidity.., it would have been greatly to be condemned. 1858 Mill Liberty v. (1873) 60 The taxation..of stimulants..is not only admissible, but to be approved of. |
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. 28* That same moste fortunate and moste to be desyred kyngdome. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 157 Such to be pittied, and ore-rested seeming He acts thy Greatnesse in. 1779 Sylph II. 50 This shall be the last letter that treats on this to-be-forbidden theme. 1871 G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. iii. vi. 835 The to-be-dreaded legacies of smallpox. |
(c) with inf. act., of which the n. is the implicit obj., as in 11 a (c).
As predicate, obs. exc. in to blame (blame v. 6); otherwise usu. with have before the n., as in a (c); also with ellipsis of n. in have to do (see do v. 33 c, d).
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 63 Nis þæt no be eallum demum ᵹelice to secᵹᵹenne. c 1122 O.E. Chron. an. 1083, Þa munecas..nyston hwet heom to donne wære. Ibid. an. 1086, Betwyx oðrum þingum nis na to forgytane þæt gode frið. a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 [Heo] wot betere þen ich wot, hwat heo haueð to donne. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3271 Hii slowe þere a þousend & mo.., & þat was to rywe sore. Ibid. 3318 Wat were to done. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 196 Confessioun of cowardise is to drede of men. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 8 The hevene wot what is to done. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 6821 Ector bretheren weren mechel to prayse. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. vii. 104 A man without wytte is to dyspyse. 1634 W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. I.) 294 Having a thousand old debates to reconcile, and as many new ones to prevent. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho l, They had no time to lose. 1870 Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 214 Everybody..thought Horne to blame. 1888 W. S. Gilbert Yeomen of Guard i. 12, I have a song to sing, O! Mod. You are much to blame. |
(d) with inf. and prep., as in 11 a (d).
| 1611 Bible Luke xii. 50, I haue a baptisme to be baptized with. 1779 Mirror No. 48 ¶10 The painter has yet more [difficulties] to struggle with. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xvi, It was not..a thing to make a fuss about. 1888 Rider Haggard Mr. Meeson's Will xvii, Ladies need never wear anything to speak of in the evening. |
c. Expressing possibility or potential action. (a) with inf. act.: that can or may...
| a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. (Percy Soc.) 34 Heo hath a mury mouth to mele [= speak]. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 288 Men stable in bileue ben a þick walle to turnen aȝen þis þondir. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 45 In that contree [Egypt] ben the gode astronomyeres; for thei fynde there no cloudes to letten hem. 1526 Tindale Matt. xi. 15 He that hath eares to heare, let him here. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxi. 385 There was no man to saye hym naye. 1625 Bacon Ess., Auger (Arb.) 566 They haue so many Things to trouble them. 1782 Cowper Alex. Selkirk 2 My right there is none to dispute. 1799 Wordsw. She dwelt among the untrodden ways i, A maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love. 1890 ‘L. Falconer’ Mlle. Ixe vi, There is no one to see us. |
(b) with inf. pass.: = that can or may be..; often equivalent to an adj. in -ble, as to be heard = audible.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 24 The inner part therof is not to be eaten. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 30 In all that rowme was nothing to be seene But huge great yron chests. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. i. 68 Looke For fury, not to be resisted. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 222 This inscription..now hardly to be read. 1818 J. Flint Lett. Amer. iv. 46 Not a sound was to be heard. |
(c) with inf. act., of which the n. is the implicit obj., as in 11 a (c): = that (one) can or may..; often nearly equivalent to for with gerund, as in 1 a.
Rarely in predicate (quots. 1297, a 18492). With drink, eat, sometimes as apparent obj. of the vb., with ellipsis of something or anything (arch.).
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark x. 40 Sitta..to swiðra minra..ne is min to sellanne. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxviii. 20 Gif Drihten..sylþ me hlaf to etenne and reaf to weriᵹenne. c 1205 Lay. 13578 Nefden we noht to drinken. Ibid. 13583 Ȝe sculleð habben to drinken. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2747 He esste at is clerkes were it to leue [= to be believed, credible] were. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) v. 47 There is no watre to drynke, but ȝif it come be condyt from Nyle. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) John iv. 7 Giue me to drinke [so 1611: earlier vv. Geue me drynke]. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. ii. 102 Without them [his books] Hee..hath not One Spirit to command. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 744/2 A taking pattern! to propose To our slim race of modern beaus. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 190 The great Grecian youth, Who whimper'd for more worlds to conquer. a 1849 Beddoes Dream-Pedlary, If there were dreams to sell. Ibid., Were dreams to have at will. 1858 Sears Athan. iii. x. 332 Heathen nations..who have had no truth given them to reject. 1897 Kipling Five Nations, Our Lady of Snows, The gates are mine to open, As the gates are mine to close. |
(d) with inf. and prep., as in 11 a (d).
| c 1410 Love Bonavent. Mirr. (1908) 49 A pore wommanes sone, that skarsly hadde clothes to wrappe hym inne. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Quair clxxiv, Nor sekernes, my spirit with to glad. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 54 Nere had you such a subiect to roialize your Muses with. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. i. 68 Sweet Duke of Yorke, our Prop to leane vpon. 1784 Burns Ep. to J. Rankine iv, Tak that, ye lea'e them naething To ken them by. |
d. Expressing quality or character: = such as to.., fit to, such as would... (With various constructions as in a, b, c, but not used predicatively.)
| 14.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 217, I have herde of an erbe to lyss that peyne. 1610 Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 313 'Twas a din to fright a Monsters eare. 1735–6 Thomson Liberty iv. 496 A sight to gladden Heav'n! 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xix, Father Crackenthorp was not a man to be brow⁓beaten. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. i. ii, Is she a person to like? 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede xxxii, She was not the woman to misbehave towards her betters. |
12. With inf. equivalent to a relative clause with indicative; chiefly after first, last, or the like (in this case = in with gerund): as the first to come = ‘the first in coming’, ‘the first who comes or came’.
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Sam. xix. 11 Why wyl ye be the last to fetch the kynge agayne vnto his house? 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 42 Not an eye that sees you, but is a Physician to comment on your Malady. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 109 He came, and with him Eve, more loth, though first To offend. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. viii, I have an interest in being first to deliver this message. 1821 F. Cooper Spy iii, Harper was the last to appear. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. v, Mine shall be the first voice to swell the battle-cry of freedom. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho. xxv, Why..was I..among the foremost to urge upon my general the murder of the Inca? |
III. With infinitive in substantival relation.
Equivalent to a noun or gerund: to being ultimately reduced to a mere ‘sign’ of the infinitive without any meaning of its own.
13. a. with inf. as subject, or as object with complement, introduced by it or an impersonal verb; in quot. c 12051 without it.
Here the inf. app. originally depended on the adj. or n. in the it clause (as in sense 9), or on the impersonal vb., and was therefore put in the form with to. Thus hwilum ða leohtan scylda bioð beteran to forlætenne, ‘sometimes the slight sins are better to let alone’ (K. ælf. Pa. C. 457) might also be expressed hwilum hit is betre ða leohtan scylda to forlætenne (cf. hit is god godne to herianne, quot. c 890) ‘sometimes it is better to let alone the slight sins’; and this easily passed into the later ‘to let alone the slight sins is sometimes better’, where the inf. clause becomes the subject as in b.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xvii, Nan þara þinga wyrcan þe him beboden is to wyrcenne. Ibid. xxxviii. §5 Þæt men sie alefed yfel to donne. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. Pref. (1890) 2 Forþon hit is god godne to herianne & yfelne to leanne. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 217 Hit is wel swete of him to specene. c 1200– [see behove v. 4 a]. c 1205 Lay. 1848 Þa heo best wende to fleonne. Ibid. 31107 Hit is on mine rede To don þat þu bede. a 1230 [see become v. 8 b]. 13.. K. Alis. 7346 (Laud MS.) Good it were to ben kniȝth. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 341 Hem nedeth noght a Riff to slake. c 1430– [see grieve v. 5 b]. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 1498 Hyt was a mervelous thing To se the rydalus hyng. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 110 It was a bruite part of him, to kill so Capital a Calfe there. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 427 God hath pronounc't it death to taste that Tree. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxvii. 15 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. 1880 Shorthouse J. Inglesant xx, Many who will have it in their power to be of great use to you. |
b. with inf. as direct subject or predicate, or in apposition with a n. or pron., or after than: often replaceable by the gerund or vbl. n. in -ing.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 6044 Ful wykkede ys þat coueytyse Wyþ oþer mennes gode falsly to ryse. 1388 Wyclif 1 Sam. xv. 22 To herkene Goddis word is more than to offre the ynnere fatnesse of rammes. 14.. Chaucer's Pars. T. ¶670 (Selden & Lansd. MSS.) Auarice is to with⁓holde & kepe suche thinges as thow hast withouten rightful nede. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. viii. 48 To be wiþoute ihesu is a greuous helle, and to be wiþ ihesu is a swete paradise. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Sam. xv. 22 Behold, to obeye [1388 Wyclif, 1535 Coverd. obedience], is better then sacrifice, & to herken, is better then y⊇ fatt of rammes. 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 126 A woman in nothing sheweth her sageness more then to dissemble with a foolish husband. 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 148 To speake on the part of virginitie, is to accuse your Mothers. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 157 To be weak is miserable Doing or Suffering. 1709 Pope Ess. Crit. 525 To err is human, to forgive, divine. 1781 Cowper Conversation 8 Talking is not always to converse. 1865 E. Burritt Walk Land's End 208 The Established Church could not do a better thing..than to peopleise these magnificent edifices. 1878 Abney Photogr. (1881) 160 The result is to render such organic matter insoluble. |
14. with inf. as direct object of a transitive verb. (See also give v. 29 c.)
OE. normally had the simple inf., like mod.German:
Beowulf 356 Þa andsware..ðe me se goda agifan þenceð. [Cf. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxiii. [xxii.] (1890) 330 Moniᵹe men þa ðe þas þing ᵹehyrdon secgan.]. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. (Contents) i. ii, Her Ninus ongon monna ærest ricsian. Ibid. i. xii. §4 For ðon þe he him cweman þohte. a 900 ― Solil. (1902) 13 Ic wilneᵹe cuman to þe. a 900 Laws of ælfred c. 66 §7 And he bebead þone hlaford lufian swa hine selfne. a 900 Ags. Ps. (Th.) iii. 4 Þa ongan ic slapan. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke i. 1 Maneᵹa þohton þara þinga race ᵹeendebyrdan. [a 1132 O.E. Chron. an. 1127, Þa muneces herdon ða horn blawen.]
Many of the vbs. which in OE. took the simple inf. could also be followed by to with the dative infinitive. But the auxiliary vbs. (see History above) have always been followed by the simple inf.; e.g. Hwæt can ic sprecan? What can I speak? We maᵹon ᵹehyran, We may hear.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §8 Swa hwa swa wilnað good to donne, he wilnað good to habbanne. c 897 ― Gregory's Past. C. lviii. 441 Ðonne hi leorniað..ða soðan god to secanne. a 900 ― Solil. (1902) 59 Ic wundriᵹe hwi ðu swa swiðe ᵹeorne..þæt to witanne. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. i. 20 Nelle þu ondrædan Marian..to onfonne [Rushw. onfoiæ]. Ibid. ii. 22 He ondred þyder to faranne [Lind. ðider fara vel to færenne]. 11.. O.E. Chron. MS. F. (12th c.) an. 40, Matheus on Iudea agan his godspell to writen. [Cf. anno 47, Marcus se godspellere in Egipta aginþ writan þæt godspell.] c 1200 Ormin 11805 He forrsoc to don Þe laþe gastess wille. c 1205 Lay. 4569 He þohte to habben [c 1275 he þohte habbe] Delgan to quene of Denemarke. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 90 Suche lessounes lordes shulde louie to here. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1919 What asketh men to haue? c 1400 Mandeville Prol. 2 He ches..there to suffre his passioun. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 186 Nought aske I, but onely to hold my right. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster iii. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 114/2, I love not to be idle. 1611 Bible Exod. ii. 15 He sought to slay Moses. 1645 Fuller Gd. Th. in Bad T. xxii. (1841) 17 Give me to guard myself. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. iii. (1840) 74 If he would still refuse to grant their demands. 1754 A. Murphy Gray's-Inn Jrnl. No. 83, I fancied to myself, to see my amiable Countrywomen [etc.]. 1812 Crabbe Tales xi. 314 He fear'd to die, yet felt ashamed to live. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxii, Please, Mister Sawyer, Missis Raddle wants to speak to you. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 62 The queen took upon herself to grant patents of monopoly. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ii. v. (1872) I. 75 A talent..for fighting..and..a talent for avoiding to fight. |
b. rarely as object of another preposition, instead of the vbl. n. or gerund. (Prob. imitating French use.)
For inf. with about to, for to, see about A. 10–12, for prep. 11.
| 1485 Caxton Paris & V. (1868) 32 Vyenne salewed parys wythoute to make [Fr. sans faire] ony semblaunte of loue. 1591 Spenser Ruines of Time 429 For not to have been dipt in Lethe lake, Could save the sonne of Thetis from to die. 1611 A. Stafford Niobe 76 The same difference..that is betwixt to sin and not to sinne. 1868 Tennyson Wages 5 Give her the glory of going on, and still to be. 1879 Mallock Life Worth Liv. 17 Not to affirm is a very different thing from to deny. |
IV. With infinitive equivalent to a finite verb or clause.
15. With inf. as complement to a n. or pron., forming a compound object or n. phrase, corresponding to the ‘accusative and infinitive’ construction in Latin and Greek.
(But certain vbs. in a. and b. are followed (at least in the active voice) by the simple inf. without to: e.g. ‘they made him come’, ‘I felt something move’. See History above.)
a. after verbs of commanding, teaching, desiring, causing, allowing, or the like; equivalent to a that-clause with the n. or pron. governing a vb. in the subjunctive. Also after the passive of such verbs, the n. or pron. then becoming the subject.
(Also in early OE. often with simple inf.: e.g. c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iv. x. §11 Þa het he ænne mon stiᵹan on þone mæst, & locian.)
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. Prayer (1899) 149 Tæc me þinne willan to wyrcenne. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xx. [xxii.] (1890) 472 Ðara þinga ðe he oðre lærde to donne. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. viii. 21 Alyfe me ærest to faranne & bebyriᵹean [L. permitte me primum ire et sepelire] minne fæder. c 1200 Ormin 10361 Acc wel itt maȝȝ hemm brinngenn onn To rihhtenn þeȝȝre dede. c 1200– [see make v.1 53 b]. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 1577 He was y-hote to go. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iv. 25, I do þe to wytene, þat it is made be enchauntement. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxxiii. 161 The kyng..suffred them to passe through his host. 1611 Coryat Crudities 268 Shee will..cause thy throate to be cut. 1704 Swift T. Tub ix. 170, I desire the Reader to attend. 1865 Ruskin Sesame ii. §94, I know you would like that to be true. 1902 Gairdner Hist. Eng. Ch. 16th C. viii. (1903) 143 She was compelled to act as lady's-maid to her new-born half-sister. |
b. after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, perceiving, or the like; equivalent to a that-clause with vb. in the indicative. Also after the passive of such verbs, and after intr. verbs of like meaning, as seem, happen, etc.
(Also in early OE. with simple inf.: e.g. c 890 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. ix. (1890) 408 Ðara cynna moniᵹ he wiste in Germanie wesan.)
| a 1300– [see seem v. 4]. 13..– [see happen v. 3]. a 1400– [see chance v. 1 c]. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 167 Wyse men denye Eneas to have seen Cathago. a 1450 Cov. Myst. xxxii. (1841) 324 We merveylyth..That ȝe wryte hym to be kyng of Jewys. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 154 When hee sawe him to weepe. 1632 Milton Penseroso 137 Where the rude Ax..Was never heard the Nymphs to daunt. 1726 Swift Gulliver iv. iii, The Houyhnhnms..could hardly believe me to be a right Yahoo. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxiii, O'er Roslin..A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam. 1891 T. Hardy Tess xxxiv, Unlocking the case, they found it to contain a necklace. 1912 H. L. Cannon in Eng. Hist. Rev. Oct. 665 The English appear to have used all the methods [etc.]. |
† c. in other constructions, equivalent to a that-clause as subject, in apposition, or after a prep. or than (cf. that conj. 1, 1 b, 1 c). Obs. (now sometimes replaced by the const. with for: see d).
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 117 Þere bið uuel to wunienne eni wise men. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiv. 6 It bihoueth thes thingis to be don. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 502 If gold ruste, what shal Iren doo. For if a preest be foul,..No wonder is, a lewed man to ruste. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xviii. 31 A madyn to bere a chyld,..that were ferly. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xvi. 60 It is better that we slee a coward than thorow a coward alle we to be slayne. 1474 Coventry Leet Bk. 389 Vppon the peyn, who doth to þe contrarie to lose..vj s. viij d. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxxxii[i.] 1 Beholde, how good & ioyfull a thinge it is, brethren to dwell together in vnite. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 33 A heauier taske could not haue beene impos'd, Than I to speake my griefes vnspeakeable. 1647 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 143 Because of the rumour of sicknes to be begune in Warrington. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. §34. 534 Qua pateat Mundum Divino Numine verti..Whereby it may appear the World to be Governed by a Divine Mind. |
d. preceded by for (with various constructions and shades of meaning): see for prep. 18.
16. With inf. after a dependent interrogative or relative; equivalent to a clause with may, should, etc. (Sometimes with ellipsis of whether before or in an alternative dependent question.)
| a 1300– [see how adv. 9]. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 558 She hath no wight to whom to make hir mone. c 1400 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 9237 (MS. B.) Hii nuste wat to do. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxiii. 259 Godys son..Hase not where apon his hede to rest. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiii. xix. 639 He..wyst not what to do. 1564 Stapleton tr. Staphylus' Apol. Pref. 3 Looking of him to be directed where, howe, and when to strike. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 56 To be, or not to be, that is the Question. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 7 In doubt to act, or rest. 1896 A. Austin Eng. Darling i. i, To know the worst Is the one way whereby to better it. |
b. In absolute or independent construction after an interrogative, forming an elliptical question.
This may be explained as an ellipsis of the principal clause (sense 16), or of ‘is one’, ‘am I’, etc. before the inf. (sense 11 b or c).
| 1713 Addison Cato iii. vii, But how to gain admission? for Access Is giv'n to none but Juba, and her Brothers. 1821 Shelley Hellas 659 Whither to fly? 1835 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) II. 87 But..how to hinder vexatious prosecutions? 1841 Ibid. 347 Talk carries off a good deal of irritation; but how to make talk innocent? 1875 Morris æneid xii. 489 Ah, what to do? |
17. In absolute or independent construction, with subject expressed (in nom.) or omitted: in exclamations expressing astonishment, indignation, sorrow, or (after O or other interj.) longing.
| a 1450 Cov. Myst. viii. 77, I to bere a childe that xal bere alle mannys blyss,.. ho mythe have joys more? 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 141 Seynt Thomas hast thou killid; and now to forsake the proteccion of alle Cristen men! 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 202 And I to sigh for her, to watch for her, To pray for her, go to! 1596 ― Merch. V. iii. i. 37 My owne flesh and blood to rebell. 1664 Pepys Diary 27 Mar., But, Lord! to see how the trained bands are raised upon this. 1742 Young Nt. Th. iii. 93 O to forget her! 1832 R. H. Froude Rem. (1838) I. 257 Only to think that my stars should let me off so easily! 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 175, I, to herd with narrow foreheads..! 1845 Browning Home Thoughts, Oh, to be in England! 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxv. 9 Ah! no more to address thee, or hear thy kindly replying, Brother!..Ne'er to behold thee again! |
† 18. With inf. immediately following the subject, in vivid narrative, equivalent to a past tense indic.; almost always with go and vbs. of like meaning.
? With ellipsis of gan (see gin v.1 1), took, or the like; but cf. the ‘historic infinitive’ in Latin.
| c 1205 Lay. 21655 Ah Arður com sone mid selere strengðe, And Scottes to fleonne feor of þan ærde. a 1300 E.E. Psalter ii. 2 Ogaine þair laverd þai come on ane, And ogaine his criste to gane. 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 351 He turnit his bridill, and to ga. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 653 (Cleopatra) Antonye..put hym to the flyght And al his folk to go that best go myght. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 161 Tarquinius..come uppon hire while sche slepte..and to lye by hire maugre hir teeþ. 1566 Gascoigne Supposes Wks. (1587) 34, I to fuge and away hither as fast as I could. 1668 Pepys Diary 18 Sept., I..away home,..and there to read again and sup with Gibson. |
V. Peculiar constructions.
† 19. To was formerly often used with the second of two infinitives when the first was without it, esp. after an auxiliary, with words intervening between the infinitives. (See also note s.v. than conj. 1.)
| c 1205 Lay. 1220 Swa he gon slomnen & þer æfter to slepen. c 1440 Ipomydon 1246 Bettyr is on huntynge goone,..Than thus lyghtly to lese a stede. c 1486 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 16 Euery persone..shall haue one of thise smale candelles brennyng in their handes & so to go on procession. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) I iij, A good prince that wil..governe wel, and not to be a tyraunt. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. iv. 57 Then let them all encircle him about, And Fairy-like to pinch the vncleane Knight. 1611–1803 [see than conj. 1 γ, δ]. |
20. Occasionally an adverb or advb. phr. (formerly sometimes an object or predicate) is inserted between to and the infinitive, forming the construction now usually (but loosely) called ‘split infinitive’. (See Onions Adv. Eng. Syntax §177.)
| 13.. Cursor M. 8318 (Cott. & Fairf.) To temple make he sal be best. Ibid. 12965 (ibid.) He sal þe send Angels for to þe defend. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret, Gov. Lordsh. 66 To enserche sciences, and to perfitly knowe alle manere of Naturels þinges. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine iv. 23 To quite rid himselfe out of thraldome. 1650 R. Gentilis Considerations 137 Anniball was advised..to not go to Rome. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Milton Wks. II. 100 Milton was too busy to much miss his wife. 1805 Emily Clark Banks of Douro III. 114 This answer seemed to seriously offend him. 1839 Times 15 Jan., This jack-in-office had taken upon himself..to more than insinuate [etc.]. 1893 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 114 The only way to successfully overcome it. |
21. Used absolutely at the end of a clause, with ellipsis of the infinitive, which is to be supplied from the preceding clause. rare before 19th c.; now a frequent colloquialism.
| 13.. Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxxiii. 74 Þe soules of synners,..Þer to take and resseyue so As þei on eorþe deserueden to. 1448 J. Shillingford Lett. (Camden) 114 He woll amende hit as sone as God well yeve hym grace and tyme to. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3330 Sayntes biddings forto do, Þof all' þare seme na resoun to. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 7 She..obserued him, as well as she could bring her spirit to consent to. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. iii. 33 Going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged to for fresh water. 1828 R. H. Froude Rem. (1838) I. 229, I feel quite differently from what I ever used to. 1883 Howells Register i, I kept on,..I had to. a 1909 F. M. Crawford Uncanny Tales (1911) 173, I wanted to turn round and look. It was an effort not to. |
† 22. Instead of the dative infinitive, the gerund in -ing was sometimes used after to: prob. originating in a phonetic confusion of -en and -in(g), but later perh. with the notion of a future action (cf. 11 a); as to coming = ‘to come’, or ‘coming’: see also come v. 33 β (after c). Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Num. xxxii. 7 Thei doren not passe into the place that the Lord is to ȝyuynge to hem. ― Acts xxii. 29 Thei that weren to turmentinge him. 1382–1490 [see come v. 33 β]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 73 Hit is not to trowynge. Ibid. 103 Damascus is to menynge ‘schedynge blood’. Ibid. 153 They..taught hem to schetynge. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 313 Iuwes..hopen þat he be to comynge þat shal hem releue. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour xxxiv. (1868) 48 That is to menying that ye shulde loue and doute youre husbonde. 1471 Fortescue Wks. (1869) 530 Both titles, that is to saynge his auncient title,..and this new title. |
† C. to conj. Obs.
1. To the time that; till, until.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 38, I sal filghe mi faas,..And noght ogain torne to þai wane swa. 13.. K. Alis. 5902 (Bodl. MS.) Þe kyng þere soiourned to he was hoole. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xx. 89 Þase..þai fede to þai be fatte. c 1575 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 275 Umphray culd gett no reste of the said Thomas to he had cast hym doon on his bedd. |
b. followed by that: cf. that conj. 7.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xx. 332 We shall hy vs before, To that we com to that cyte. 1509 Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden) II. 7 [They] vsed..to haue commens..in the same vj closes to now of late that..thei be interupt. 1626 J. Haig Let. 10 Nov., in J. Russell Haigs vii. (1881) 178 And to that I be into fashion, I am ashamed to presume. |
2. During the time that; while; = till conj. 2. (Also with that.) rare.
| 1357 Lay Folk's Catech. 345 (MS. T.) For to lyve samen Withouten ony lousyng to thair life lastes. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 304 Mony..He helyt, to þat he was þare. |
D. to (tuː) adv.
† 1. Expressing motion resulting in arrival (cf. A. 1): To a place, etc. implied or indicated by the context. Obs. (Often the separable particle of a compound vb.)
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 182 Gang to and arær hine. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 87 Þa on þere ilke nihte iwende godes engel to, and acwalde on elche huse [etc.]. 13.. Cursor M. 5530 (Cott. & Fairf.) Þis godds folk bar to þe clay. a 1400–50 Alexander 1389 Þare presis to with paues peple withouten. |
2. Expressing direction (cf. A. 2): Towards a thing or person implied; after end, head, etc., forming advb. phrases (cf. on adv. 7 b).
| 1889 Amer. Nat. Jan. 19 Three young owls with their feathers turned wrong end to. 1900 Everybody's Mag. III. 533 The Monitor came head-to when the cable brought her up. |
b. In conjunction with other advbs. of direction: In one direction (as contrasted with the opposite one). Now only in to and fro; see also 7, 9.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 604 Him followit thai, With mekill payne, quhill to, quhill fra. c 1421 Hoccleve Complaint 30 The grefe abowte my harte..bolned evar to and to so sore. 1560 Rolland Crt. Venus i. 356 Scho alteris ay to euerie kinde and stait: Quhylis to, quhylis fra. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iv. 46 This common bodie, Like to a Vagabond Flagge vpon the Streame, Goes too, and backe. |
† 3. Up to a time indicated by the context; till then: in phr. not be long to. (Cf. A. 6.) Obs.
| 1468 J. Paston in P. Lett. II. 318 When I come home, whyche, I tryst to God, shal not be long to. 1471 Ibid. III. 6 It shall not be longe to or then my wronges..shall be redressyd. 1538 Hen. VIII Let. to Anne Boleyn in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 145 Till you repaire hydder, I keep something in store, trusting it shall not be long to. |
4. Expressing contact (cf. A. 5): So as to come close against something; esp. with vbs. forming phrases denoting shutting or closing: see the vbs. Now arch. and colloq.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 181 Hie tuneð to hire fif gaten. a 1225 Ancr. R. 96 Schutteð al þet þurl to. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 554 Tehee quod she, and clapte the wyndow to. 1534 Tindale Luke xiii. 25 When the good man of the housse..hath shett to the dore. a 1619 Fletcher Mad Lover iii. ii, Put to the doors. 1620 J. Dyke in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxi. 2 This tower and rock were too high..and therefore he sets to the scaling ladder. 1855 Mrs. Gatty Parab. fr. Nat. Ser. i. (1869) 61 The banging of the door, blown to by a current of wind. 1898 G. B. Shaw Plays II. Arms & Man 6 She goes out..and pulls the outside shutters to. |
5. Expressing attachment, application, or addition (cf. A. 15, 16): after various verbs, as put, set, etc. (q.v.); also predicatively, spec. of a horse: = harnessed to a vehicle. Now dial. or colloq.
| c 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 84, I putte to regeneratyuez of flesch. c 1450 Oseney Reg. 96 To this present writyng my seele I haue i-put to. 1530 Palsgr. Introd. 38 Lyke as we out of our adjectyves forme our adverbes..by adding to of ly. 1534 Tindale John iii. 33 He that hath receaved hys testimonye hath set to his seale that God is true. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 133 Can Honour set too a legge? 1768 Woman of Honor I. 68 The horses are to. 1889 J. J. Hissey Tour in Phaeton 97 We ordered the horses to, and resumed our pleasant pilgrimage. |
b. In the senses ‘in addition, besides, also’, and ‘in excess’, now written as a distinct word, Too, q.v.
6. Expressing attention or application (cf. A. 24): after vbs., as fall, go, set (see the vbs.). In quot. 1606 absol. (with ellipsis of vb. in imperative).
| c 1200 Ormin 6134 Forr þe birrþ don þin hellpe to Aȝȝ affterr þine fere. c 1425– [see set to s.v. set v.1 152 f]. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 119 To Achilles, to Aiax, to. 1610 ― Temp. iii. iii. 49, I will stand to, and feede. Ibid. 52 Stand too, and doe as we. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby viii. i, It's difficult to turn to with a new thing. |
† 7. Expressing assent or adhesion (cf. A. 31 b): In assent to or favour of something implied (opp. to fra, fro adv.). Cf. 9 b, to and fro A. 3.
| c 1450 Holland Howlat 270 Sum said to and sum fra, Sum nay and sum ȝa. |
8. Used idiomatically with many verbs, as bring, come, go, lay, lie, etc.: see the verbs.
9. to and again. a. To a place and back again; alternately in opposite directions; backwards and forwards: = to and fro A. 1. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 6 A ship..hath sailed to and againe ouer the maine Ocean. 1628 Digby Voy. Medit. (Camden) 86 The wind shifted too and againe very vncertainely. 1628–1719 [see again A. 1 c]. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1858) 240 Amazed when he saw me work the boat to-and-again in the sea by the rudder. 1760–72 H. Bbooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 126 Walking..to and again. 1828 Craven Gloss., To and again, backwards and forwards. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 763. |
| fig. 1736 Neal Hist. Purit. III. 240 Such as had shifted their religion to and again. |
† b. For and against a question: = to and fro A. 3. Obs.
| 1656 Burton's Diary (1828) I. 3 All parties have been heard, too and again, in this last case. 1666 J. Livingstone in Sel. Biog. (1845) I. 181 Much debate too and again had been used. |
† c. Again and again, repeatedly. Obs.
| 1659 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 379 Your Committee too and again offered it as an expedient. 1666 Pepys Diary 13 Aug., Sent him to and again to get me 1000l. |
Add: [A.] [I.] [4.] c. Redundantly at the end of a where-clause, esp. in phr. where's (someone) to? = ‘where has he (or she) gone?’, ‘where is he (or she)?’. South-w. and U.S. dial.
| 1886 F. T. Elworthy West Somerset Word-Bk. 763 At a political meeting at Taunton, Nov. 8th, 1885, a man shouted, ‘Where's Gordon to?’. 1886 W. Barnes Gloss. Dorset Dial. 110 Dorset folk often say ‘Where do ye live to’, or ‘bide to?’. 1893 H. C. O'Neill Told in Dimpses i. 29 ‘Where was he to, Mrs. Delve, when he wrote?’.. ‘Some haythenish place, Miss Annie, without any Christian name to it at all.’ 1925 Dialect Notes V. 345 To adv., at. ‘Stop where yer to.’ 1977 Jrnl. Lancs. Dialect Soc. No. 27. 17/2 [Exeter] To (otiose). E.g. ‘Where's he to?’ (= ‘Where has he gone?’; ‘Where is he?’). 1986 Amer. Speech LXI. 190 The enquiry Where is he to? is the normal form of the question in the folk speech of Newfoundland, and is paralleled by such imperatives as Stay where you're to and Stay where you're at. |
▪ IV. ‖ to, n. Now rare.
(to)
Pl. to.
[Jap.]
A Japanese unit of capacity equal to ten sho, equivalent to approximately 3·97 gallons (18·0 litres) or 0·496 bushel.
| 1871 A. B. Mitford Tales of Old Japan II. 2 Each of these bags holds four tô (a tô is rather less than half an imperial bushel). 1884 Murray's Handbk. Japan (ed. 2) 18, 10 shō= 1 to. 1901 F. Brinkley Japan II. iii. 118 At the close of the sixteenth century,..the measure of capacity was exactly fixed, and its volume was called tō; ten tō (i.e. a sheaf of grain) being called a koku. 1956 R. J. Smith in Cornell & Smith Two Japanese Villages 90 The most expensive hōji..costs a minimum of 4,000 yen (one koku of rice). The least expensive costs 1,000 yen (1 tō of rice). 1959 R. K. Beardsley et al. Village Japan 488/2 Tō, measure of volume; about 4 gallons. |
▪ V. to
obs. spelling of too adv., two.