to-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "to"

English

Etymology 1

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

Prefix

to-

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

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with to-

terms derived from parting

terms derived from excessively

terms derived from completely

terms derived from moving

tolug
towind

Related terms

all to

Etymology 2

From to.

Prefix

to-

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

Derived terms

terms derived from current

terms derived from then

terms derived from during

terms derived from adding

terms derived from of

terms derived from toward

terms derived from at

References

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

^ Whitney, The Century dictionary and cyclopedia, to-

Anagrams

OT, ot-

Classical Nahuatl

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /to/

Prefix

to-

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

Etymology 1

(personal prefix, possessive) Used to form the first-person plural possessive of nouns: our. Can combine with relational words to form relational adverbs.
nāntzintli (“mother”) → tonāntzin (“our mother”)

calli (“house”) → tocal (“our house”)

-tlōc (“beside”) → totlōc (“beside us”)

Derived terms

Category Classical Nahuatl nouns prefixed with to- not found

Etymology 2

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

itta (“to see something”) → titottah (“We see ourselves, We look at each other”)

tolīnia (“to bother someone, to make suffer”) → titotolīniah (“We suffer, We are bothered”)

Usage notes

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

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

toe-, tou-, ta-, te-, tu-, tuo-, two-, tow-

Prefix

to-

Affixed to verbs and verb inflections to impart a sense of motion, directionality and/or extension.
Affixed to adjectives, adverbs and prepositions to impart a sense of approach, extension and/or proximity.
(rare) Affixed to nouns to impart a sense of motion, directionality and/or extension.

Derived terms

Verbs and inflections formed with to-

Adjectives, adverbs and prepositions formed with to-

Nouns formed with to-

Descendants

English: to-

References

“tọ̄̆-, pref.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 April 2018.

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

te-, tu-

Prefix

to-

Appended to verbs and nouns to impart a sense of separation and/or departure.
Appended to verbs and nouns to intensify or emphasise the meaning.

Derived terms

Verbs and inflections formed with to-

Nouns formed with to-

Descendants

English: to-

References

“tọ̄̆-, pref. (2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 9 April 2018.

Old English

Alternative forms

te-, ti-

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Prefix

tō-

verbal prefix with a sense of "in pieces, apart, asunder", or with intensive force
tefeallan, tōfeallan ― to fall apart

titwǣman, tōtwǣman ― to separate

tetorfian, tōtorfian ― to toss about
used to form substantives from other nouns
tōtalu ― reputation

tōsprǣċ ― conversation

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Old English terms prefixed with to-

Old Irish

Alternative forms

do- (pretonic form)

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *to-.

Prefix

to- (pretonic do-)

prefix used to create verbs and associated verbal nouns

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with to-

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *tō.

Prefix

to-

Creates words with a sense of ‘towards, to, against’
tōdōn (“to add; to close”)

tōheftian (“to fix”)

tōhlinon (“to lean against”)

tōhnēgian (“to neigh towards”)

tōrūnon (“to whisper”)

tōsprekan (“to speak with, discuss, talk to”)

tōstōtan (“to push, thrust”)

tōward (“future”)

tōwardes (“near”)

tōwardig (“near”)

tōwendian (“to turn towards”)

Derived terms

Category Old Saxon terms prefixed with to- not found

Ternate

Etymology

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

Pronoun

to- (Jawi تو-)

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

References

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

Wiyot

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tɑ-/

Preverb

to-

The definite article: the

References

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

Wolio

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taʀ-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /to-/

Prefix

to-

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

References

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

[1] Whitney, The Century dictionary and cyclopedia, to-

[1]

	Singular	Plural
1st person	no-	to-
2nd person	mo-	amo-
3rd person	ī-	īm-
impersonal	tē-

	independent		subject proclitic	possessive
	Informal	Formal
1st person singular	ngori	fangare^m, fajaru^f	to	ri
2nd person singular	ngana	ngoni, jou ngoni	no	ni
3rd person singular	una^m, mina^f		o^m, mo^f, i^nh	i^m, mi^f, ma^nh
1st person plural inclusive	ngone		fo	na, nga
1st person plural exclusive	ngomi	fangare ngomi^m, fajaru ngomi^f, fara ngomi¹	mi	mi, mia
2nd person plural	ngoni		ni	na, nia
3rd person plural	ana^h, ena^nh		i^{h, nh}, yo^{h, †}, ya^{nh, †}	na^h, nga^h, ma^nh