Unto
conj, prep ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Up to the time or degree that; until. obsolete, poetic
"Unto This Last (John Ruskin)"
- 1 Up to; indicates a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it. archaic, poetic
"Sir Gawain rode unto the nearby castle."
- 2 To; indicates an indirect object. archaic, poetic
"And the Lord said unto Moses […]"
- 3 Down to the last; encompassing even every. archaic, poetic
"I do but sing because I must, And pipe but as the linnets sing: And unto one her note is gay, For now her little ones have ranged; And unto one her note is changed, Because her brood is stol’n away."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Hope is the last thing that man has to flee unto."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English unto, from Old English *untō, *und tō, equivalent to un- (“against; toward; up to”) + to. Cognate with Old Frisian ont to ("until"; > Saterland Frisian antou (“until”)) (cf. Old Frisian und (“up to; till”), Old Frisian til (“till; to”)), Old Saxon untō, untuo (“until”), Old High German unze, unzi, unza (“until”), Old Norse und (“as far as; up to”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 (untē, “until; as long as”).