*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of unto

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

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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 ↗
prep

Up to; indicates a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it. · To; indicates an indirect object. · Down to the last; encompassing even every. · Until a particular time.

conj

Up to the time or degree that; until.

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

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionuntoenm
  • Inherited-form mention*untōang
  • Cognate mentionont toofs
  • Cognate mentionantoustq · until
  • Cognate mentionundofs · up to; till
  • Cognate mentiontilofs · till; to
  • Cognate mentionuntōosx
  • Cognate mentionunzegoh
  • Cognate mentionundnon · as far as; up to
  • Cognate mention𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴got · until; as long as
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "unto",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English unto"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "unto"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English unto"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "*untō"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English *untō"
    },
    {
      "name": "prefix",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "un",
        "3": "to",
        "t1": "against; toward; up to"
      },
      "expansion": "un- (“against; toward; up to”) + to"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ofs",
        "2": "ont to"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Frisian ont to"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "antou",
        "t": "until"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian antou (“until”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "gloss",
      "args": {
        "1": "\"until\"; > Saterland Frisian <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"stq\">antou</i> (“until”)"
      },
      "expansion": "(\"until\"; > Saterland Frisian antou (“until”))"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ofs",
        "2": "und",
        "t": "up to; till"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Frisian und (“up to; till”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ofs",
        "2": "til",
        "t": "till; to"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Frisian til (“till; to”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "osx",
        "2": "untō"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Saxon untō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "unze"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German unze"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "und",
        "t": "as far as; up to"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse und (“as far as; up to”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴",
        "t": "until; as long as"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 (untē, “until; as long as”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "unto",
      "unto#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "*untō",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/unto"
    ],
    [
      "*und tō",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/und to"
    ],
    [
      "un-",
      "un-#English"
    ],
    [
      "to",
      "to#English"
    ],
    [
      "ont to",
      "ont to#Old_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "Saterland Frisian",
      "w:Saterland Frisian language"
    ],
    [
      "antou",
      "antou#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "und",
      "und#Old_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "til",
      "til#Old_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "untō",
      "unto#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "untuo",
      "untuo#Old_Saxon"
    ],
    [
      "unze",
      "unze#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "unzi",
      "unzi#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "unza",
      "unza#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "und",
      "und#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴",
      "𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴#Gothic"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "prep",
      "glosses": [
        "Up to; indicates a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it.",
        "To; indicates an indirect object.",
        "Down to the last; encompassing even every.",
        "Until a particular time."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "poetic"
      ],
      "recordId": "1a913b5cfc5fbbc81e44b6316dba9a19594e693254d46c4e34cacd7a932be265",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c0f4444b6b9433ce0eee4922aea70291e785a17432dde357552d655fccdbb4e0",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 350358
    },
    {
      "pos": "conj",
      "glosses": [
        "Up to the time or degree that; until."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
        "poetic"
      ],
      "recordId": "bb0b0949830bb286dc4b27d6bbf18de9f635f8750fc3a4283dc6f44880e3f0a1",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c8e1f96a1626a4ff6f2c83b3a1422f8454b0bb8df50481d6aed02f9652e471dd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 350357
    }
  ],
  "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 unto →

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-dW50bw