Etymology: Middle English, from Old English tō; akin to Old High German zuo to, Latin donec as long as, until
Date: before 12th century
1 a —used as a function word to indicate movement or an action or condition suggestive of movement toward a place, person, or thing reached <drove to the city><went back to the original idea><went to lunch>b —used as a function word to indicate direction <a mile to the south><turned his back to the door><a tendency to silliness>c —used as a function word to indicate contact or proximity <applied polish to the table><put her hand to her heart>d (1) —used as a function word to indicate the place or point that is the far limit <100 miles to the nearest town>(2) —used as a function word to indicate the limit of extent <stripped to the waist>e —used as a function word to indicate relative position <perpendicular to the floor> 2 a —used as a function word to indicate purpose, intention, tendency, result, or end <came to our aid><drink to his health>b —used as a function word to indicate the result of an action or a process <broken all to pieces><go to seed><to their surprise, the train left on time> 3 —used as a function word to indicate position or relation in time: as a:before<five minutes to five>b:till<from eight to five><up to now> 4 —used as a function word to indicate addition, attachment, connection, belonging, possession, accompaniment, or response <the key to the door><danced to live music><comes to her call> 5 —used as a function word (1) to indicate the extent or degree (as of completeness or accuracy) <loyal to a man><generous to a fault> or the extent and result (as of an action or a condition) <beaten to death> (2) to indicate the last or an intermediate point of a series <moderate to cool temperatures> 6 a —used as a function word (1) to indicate a relation to one that serves as a standard <inferior to her earlier works> (2) to indicate similarity, correspondence, dissimilarity, or proportion <compared him to a god>b —used as a function word to indicate agreement or conformity <add salt to taste><to my knowledge>c —used as a function word to indicate a proportion in terms of numbers or quantities <400 to the box><odds of ten to one> 7 a —used as a function word (1) to indicate the application of an adjective or a noun <agreeable to everyone><attitude to friends><title to the property> (2) to indicate the relation of a verb to its complement or to a complementary element <refers to the traditions> (3) to indicate the receiver of an action or the one for which something is done or exists <gives a dollar to the man> and often used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusiveness (as of possession) or separateness <had the house to themselves>b —used as a function word to indicate agency <falls to his opponent's blows> 8 —used as a function word to indicate that the following verb is an infinitive <wants to go> and often used by itself at the end of a clause in place of an infinitive suggested by the preceding context <knows more than she seems to>
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