toe

Forms

toe^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch toe, inherited from Old Dutch *tuo, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *tō, inherited from Proto-Germanic *tō (“to, towards”).^[2][1] The Old Dutch form is inferred from the prefix of tōhopa (“hope, refuge”).^[2][3] The same word is Old Saxon tō, Old High German zuo (modern German zu), Old Frisian tō (modern West Frisian ta) and Old English tō, which gave both English to and too.^[2][4][5] It was at first an adverb and only later became a preposition in the separate languages.^[2] Beside it stood a weak, unstressed form *ta, which served as a preposition and gave te.^[2][3]

Outside Germanic it is related to Proto-Indo-European *do(-h₁) (“to”), continued in Latin endo (“within”), quandō (“when”) and dōnec (“until”), in Ancient Greek ἔνδον (éndon, “inside”), Lithuanian da (“until”), Russian до (do, “to, up to”) and Old Irish do (“to”).^[2][5][1] The ablaut variant *deh₁ may be the source of dē (“from”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Wachtendonck Psalms of the 10th century call God tōhopa min, “my hope, my refuge”, literally “hope towards”.^[2][6] About 1100 the Egmond Williram uses zo as a preposition: ilet siu zo himo, “she hastens to him”.^[2] In 13th-century Middle Dutch toe means “towards”, “in addition” and “shut”: a text of 1265–1270 has eyes opened ende weder toe, “and shut again”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Middle Dutch used toe with te or tot to mark a limit, as in tot paeschen toe, “until Easter” (1248–1271), and ter dod al toe, “even unto death” (1285).^[2][7] In eastern texts it was also a preposition, a variant of te, but the standard language kept only the adverb.^[2][3] In its spatial sense it now usually goes with a preposition, naar … toe or tot … toe, or with a verb, as in toelopen and toeschreeuwen.^[2][4] The sense “in addition” lives in op de koop toe, toegeven, toegift and toetje “dessert”.^[2][8]

The interjection toe!, urging someone on or pleading, grew out of the sense of moving towards a goal and is recorded from 1782.^[4] Through Afrikaans the word reached South African English, where toe “shut” came to mean “very stupid” and toe maar is said to soothe someone;^[9] Negerhollands had tu, toe “to” and “shut”.^[9]

Timeline

• 901–1000 – Old Dutch tōhopa “hope, refuge” in the Wachtendonck Psalms.^[2][6]
• c. 1100 – Zo himo “to him” in the Egmond Williram.^[2]
• 1248–1271 – Tot paeschen toe “until Easter”.^[2]
• 1265–1270 – Eyes opened ende weder toe “and shut again”.^[2][7]
• 1596 – A fleet sets course naer 't roode Meer toe, “towards the Red Sea”.^[4]
• 1782 – First record of the interjection toe!.^[4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Towards, in the direction of, with naar or tot: hij liep naar haar toe.^[8][1]
2. Up to a limit in time or space, in tot … toe: tot de knieën toe.^[1][10]
3. In addition, besides: op de koop toe;^[8] wat eten we toe?, what is for dessert?^[8]
4. shut, closed: de winkel is al toe.^[1][10][8]
5. (toe zijn aan) Ready for, in need of: ik ben toe aan vakantie.^[1]
6. As the second part of pronominal adverbs and separable verbs: daartoe, toegeven.^[10][4]

Interjection

1. Come on!, go on!, urging someone with an imperative: toe, vertel nou!.^[8][1]
2. Please, pleading.^[8]
3. Expressing disbelief or surprise: come off it!^[8]

Word family

• toegift
• toegang
• toekomst
• toelage
• toetje
• toegeven
• toelaten
• toepassen
• toeschrijven
• toevoegen
• daartoe
• waartoe
• totnogtoe

Related words

• te
• tot
• English to
• German zu

Usage notes

In dialects and in older Dutch toe is also a form of toen “then”, first recorded in West Flanders in 1285.^[7][1] The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal explains toe and toen as having arisen from doe and doen by assimilation after a word such as ende, and says that toen became the usual form of the standard language in the 18th century.^[4] In eastern North Brabant toe is still a preposition meaning “to, until”.^[11][12] Van Dale labels the sense “shut” archaic, though it is common in speech.^[8][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum
4. ^ a b c d e f g Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
7. ^ a b c d Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
9. ^ a b Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
10. ^ a b c WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org
11. ^ Weijnen, A. A. (2003), Etymologisch dialectwoordenboek, 2nd ed., Den Haag: Sdu
12. ^ Debrabandere, Frans (2010), Brabants etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van de woordenschat van Antwerpen, Brussel, Noord-Brabant en Vlaams-Brabant, Zwolle: Wbooks