hitherto

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hiderto,^[2][3][4] a compound from Old English hider (“hither”) + tō (“to”),^[5][6][2][7] first recorded in Old English.^[5] The OED compares hereto.^[5] hider goes back to Proto-Germanic *hidrē,^[8] cognate with Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌳𐍂𐌴 (hidrē, “hither”) and Old Norse heðra (“here”);^[5][7][9][8] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ko- (“this”), the root also of here.^[7] The medial consonant changed from d to th in Middle English, as in father.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Up to this time, until now: in an Old English royal charter of Æthelred II to Christ Church, Canterbury.^[5] The MED's first Middle English record is in the Life of St Katherine of about 1225,^[2] and Etymonline dates the word to about 1200.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle, it was also used of a discourse or book, for "up to this point",^[5][2] a use now chiefly literary.^[5] Chaucer used hiderto three times.^[10] The spatial sense, "to this place", appears from 1521 and was rare after the 17th century;^[5][11] the sense "to this end" lasted from 1555 to 1668.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to this time; yet".^[12] From 1614 it was also used as an adjective for "previous, former", now rare.^[5][3][11]

Timeline

• Old English – up to this time, until now.^[5]
• c. 1225 – up to this point in a discourse.^[5][2]
• 1521 – to this place (rare after the 17th century).^[5]
• 1555 – to this end or result (obsolete by 1668).^[5]
• 1614 – adjective, previous, former.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Up to this time; until now; so far: a hitherto unknown species of beetle.^[11][3][5]
2. (archaic) To this place or point.^[11][3][5]

Adjective

1. (rare) Existing until now; previous.^[3][11][5]

Related words

• hither
• thither
• hereto

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.