onto English · revision 3068

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1581|origins=en on, en to}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈɒn.tuː/, US /ˈɑːn.tuː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|en|on|to]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) written separately at first and later as one word, on the analogy of [[into]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To a position on, as in stepping on to a stage: 1581, written ''on to''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline dates the phrase to the 1580s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It appeared much later than the parallel forms [[into]] and [[unto]].^(Etymonline) The closed form ''onto'' is recorded from 1715 in Etymonline^(Etymonline) and in Keats's ''Otho the Great'' (1819) in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The Century Dictionary of 1895 said purists regarded it as vulgar and careful writers avoided it.^(Etymonline) “Aware of, informed about”, as in ''the police are onto him'', is a later colloquial sense.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) In mathematics ''onto'' describes a mapping that covers every element of the second set, from 1942.^(MWU 2024)^(AHD) In many dialects of Scotland and England ''onto'' was used for “on” or “upon”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1581 – ''on to'', to a position on.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1715 – written as one word.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1819 – ''onto'' in Keats.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1942 – in mathematics.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # To a position on or upon: ''jump onto the bed''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(informal)'' Aware of; informed about: ''we're onto your tricks''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # In contact with: ''get onto the council''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(mathematics)'' Of a [[mapping]], such that every element of the second set is the image of some element of the first.^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[onto function]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[on]]

+ * [[to]]

+ * [[into]]

+ * [[unto]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Cambridge pronouncing dictionary notes that /ˈɒn.tuː/ is rare except when the word is said on its own; /ˈɒn.tə/ is usual before consonants and /ˈɒn.tu/ before vowels.^(Roach et al. 2011) Writers distinguish ''onto'' (motion to a position on something) from ''on to'', where ''on'' is an adverb: ''they walked on to the next town''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}