*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of today

From Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adv

On the current day or date. · In the current era; nowadays; these days. · On the day of a recurring cycle or event which is currently happening.

noun

The current day or date. · The 24-hour period beginning at 5 or 6 a.m. or sunrise of the current day. · The present era; nowadays.

adj

Current; up to date.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag (“today”), Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”), German Low German vandage, vandaag (“today”), Swedish i dag, idag (“today”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentiontodayenm
  • Inherited-form mentiontōdæġang
  • Word-formation componenttoen
  • Word-formation componentdayen
  • Cognate mentiondäälichstq · today
  • Cognate mentionvandaagnl · today
  • Cognate mentionhindagosx · today
  • Cognate mentioni dagsv
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "today"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English today"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "tōdæġ"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English tōdæġ"
    },
    {
      "name": "af",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to",
        "3": "day"
      },
      "expansion": "to + day"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "däälich",
        "t": "today"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "vandaag",
        "t": "today"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch vandaag (“today”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "hindag",
        "t": "today",
        "lit": "[this] day forward"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "vandage"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German vandage"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "i dag"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish i dag"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "today",
      "today#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "to-daie",
      "to-daie#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "todæig",
      "todæig#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "tōdæġ",
      "todæg#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "tō dæġe",
      "to dæge#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "to",
      "to#English"
    ],
    [
      "day",
      "day#English"
    ],
    [
      "däälich",
      "däälich#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "vandaag",
      "vandaag#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "hindag",
      "hindag#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "vandage",
      "vandage#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "vandaag",
      "vandaag#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "i dag",
      "i dag#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "idag",
      "idag#Swedish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adv",
      "glosses": [
        "On the current day or date.",
        "In the current era; nowadays; these days.",
        "On the day of a recurring cycle or event which is currently happening."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "informal"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2604
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The current day or date.",
        "The 24-hour period beginning at 5 or 6 a.m. or sunrise of the current day.",
        "The present era; nowadays."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "85240a3547aa594c609fbbd7f987d3e7c361e42ae6ad67cd8e18c60938b2bfbf",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2605
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Current; up to date."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "recordId": "8c97cfbc479da3077fcd8c298c6c534cb9d185a9a9379f26957d1c4abf968c64",
      "rawRecordSha256": "40973d3b45e11874a71102db48f74e838448d29983ca0e86b45a50dea61f23c0",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 2606
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for today →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-dG9kYXk