thereto

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English therto,^[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English þǣrtō (“to it, to that; besides”),^{[6][2][7][8][3]} formed from þǣr (“there”) and tō (“to”),^[3][4][6] that is, there and to.^[7][4] Etymonline compares the parallel formations Old Saxon tharto, Old High German darazuo and German dazu.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To that place or thing, and with words of belonging or suitability, pertaining to that: both are recorded in Old English in Ælfric's Homilies,^[6] and Bosworth–Toller also gives the senses "next, then", "besides" and "for that end".^[8]

Semantic evolution

All three main senses, "to that", "belonging to that" and "in addition, besides", go back to Old English,^[6][8] the last in the Old English translation of Bede.^[6] In Middle English the word was common: Chaucer used it about 125 times and Gower 77 times, often meaning "for that purpose".^[9][2] The sense "besides, moreover" is now archaic or poetic,^[6][3][10] and the word survives mainly in formal and legal writing, as in a document and the papers attached to it.^[10][3]

Timeline

• Old English – to that place or thing; pertaining to that.^[6][8]
• Old English – in addition to that, besides (now archaic).^[6][8]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (formal) To that or to it: the house and the land belonging thereto.^[10][3][6]
2. (archaic) In addition to that; besides, moreover.^[3][10][6]

Related words

• there
• to
• thereunto
• hereto
• thereof

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins