to

• adv. 向前；（门等）关上
• prep. 到；向；（表示时间、方向）朝…方向
• n. (To)人名；(柬)多；(中)脱(普通话·威妥玛)

中文词源

来自古英语 to,朝向，在某方向，来自 West-Germanic*to,朝向，来自 PIE*do,指示代词词干， 朝，向，衍生前缀 de-.

英文词源

to

to: [OE] To comes from a prehistoric West Germanic *tō, which also produced German zu and Dutch toe. This went back ultimately to an Indo-European *do, which also produced Russian do ‘to’. Too is historically the same word as to.
=> too

to (prep.)

Old English to "in the direction of, for the purpose of, furthermore," from West Germanic *to (cognates: Old Saxon and Old Frisian to, Dutch too, Old High German zuo, German zu "to"), from PIE pronominal base *do- "to, toward, upward" (cognates: Latin donec "as long as," Old Church Slavonic do "as far as, to," Greek suffix -de "to, toward," Old Irish do, Lithuanian da-), from demonstrative *de-.

Not found in Scandinavian, where the equivalent of till (prep.) is used. In Old English, the preposition (go to town) leveled with the adverb (the door slammed to) except where the adverb retained its stress (tired and hungry too); there it came to be written with -oo (see too).

The nearly universal use of to with infinitives (to sleep, to dream, etc.) arose in Middle English out of the Old English dative use of to, and it helped drive out the Old English inflectional endings (though in this use to itself is a mere sign, without meaning).

Commonly used as a prefix in Middle English (to-hear "listen to," etc.), but few of these survive (to-do, together, and time references such as today, tonight, tomorrow -- Chaucer also has to-yeere). To and fro "side to side" is attested from mid-14c. Phrase what's it to you "how does that concern you?" (1819) is a modern form of an old question:

Huæd is ðec ðæs?
[John xxi:22, in Lindisfarne Gospel, c.950]

双语例句

1. I think he means "at" rather than "to"

我想，他是想说at，而不是to。

来自柯林斯例句

2. Beauty is an attitude. It has nothing to do with age.

美是一种态度，与年龄无关。

来自金山词霸

3. The best thing to do when entering unknown territory is smile.

踏入未知地带最好的对策就是微笑。

来自美剧《凯莉日记》

4. No matter where you go in life or how old you get, there's always something new to learn about. After all, life is full of surprises.

不管你生活在哪里，你有多少岁，总有新东西要学习，毕竟，生活总是充满惊喜。

来自金山词霸 每日一句

5. For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?

我们活着是为了什么？不就是给邻居当笑柄，再反过来笑他们。

来自《傲慢与偏见》