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Origin and history of into

into(prep.)

Old English into "into, to, against, in," originally in to. It emerged in late Old English to do the work of the dative case inflections, then fading, that formerly distinguished, for instance, the notion of "in the house" from that of "into the house." Compare onto, unto. To be into (something) "be intensely involved in or devoted to" recorded by 1967 in American English youth slang.

Entries linking to into

in(adv., prep.)

a Middle English merger of Old English in (prep.) "in, into, upon, on, at, among; about, during;" and Old English inne (adv.) "within, inside," from Proto-Germanic *in (source also of Old Frisian, Dutch, German, Gothic in, Old Norse i), from PIE root *en "in." The simpler form took on both senses in Middle English.

Sense distinction between in and on is from later Middle English, and nuances in use of in and at still distinguish British and American English (in school/at school). Sometimes in Middle English shortened to i.

The noun sense of "influence, access (to power or authorities)," as in have an in with, is first recorded 1929 in American English. to be in for it "certain to meet with something unpleasant" is from 1690s. To be in with "on friendly terms with" is from 1670s. Ins and outs "intricacies, complications of an action or course" is from 1660s. In-and-out (n.) "copulation" is attested from 1610s.

onto(prep.)

"toward and upon; to and in connection with; to the top of," 1580s, on to, from on + to. It appeared much later than parallel into, unto. As a closed compound, onto (on analogy of into), it is recorded from 1715. "The word is regarded by purists as vulgar, and is avoided by careful writers" [Century Dictionary, 1895].

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to
Old English to "in the direction of, for the purpose of, furthermore," from West Germanic *to (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian to, Dutch toe, Old High German zuo, German zu "to"), from PIE pronominal base *do- "to, toward, upward" (source also of Latin donec "as long as,
unto
mid-13c., perhaps a modification of until, with southern to in place of northern equivalent till. Or perhaps a contraction of native *und to, formed on the model of until from Old English *un- "up to, as far as," cognate of the first element in until. "Very rare in standard write
impact
c. 1600, "press closely into something," from Latin impactus, past participle of impingere "to push into, drive into, strike...against," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + pangere "to fix, fasten" (from PIE...
plunge
late 14c., plungen, "to put, throw, or thrust violently into; immerse, submerge," also intransitive, from Old French plongier..."plunge, sink into; plunge into, dive in" (mid-12c., Modern French plonger), from Vulgar Latin *plumbicare "to heave the...Figurative sense of "cast into some state or condition" (despair, etc.) is from late 14c. Related: Plunged; plunging....
inspection
inspeccion "inspection, examination" (13c., Modern French inspection), from Latin inspectionem (nominative inspectio) "a looking into...," noun of action from past participle stem of inspicere "look at, observe, view; look into, inspect, examine," from in-..."into" (from PIE root *en "in") + specere "to look" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe")....
conglomerate
1590s, transitive, "to form into a ball, to gather into a ball or round body," from Latin conglomeratus, past participle...to roll together, concentrate, heap up," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + glomerare "to gather into...
commence
initiare "to initiate," from initium "a beginning," literally "a going in," noun use of neuter past participle of inire "to go into..., begin," from in- "into, in" (from PIE root *en "in") + ire "to go" (from PIE root *ei- "to go")....From late 14c. in intransitive sense "come into existence, begin to be," also "enter into a new state."...
logic
mid-14c., logike, "branch of philosophy that treats of forms of thinking; the science of distinction of true from false reasoning," from Old French logique (13c.), from Latin (ars) logica "logic," from Greek (he) logike (techne) "(the) reasoning (art)," from fem. of logikos "pert
gyp
also gip, "to cheat, swindle," 1889, American English, traditionally derived from Gypsy (n.). Gyp/gip/jip is attested from 1794 as university slang for a servant that waited on students in their halls. This is said to have been especially a Cambridge word, and a story told there
election
c. 1300, eleccioun, "act of choosing" someone to occupy a position, elevation to office" (whether by one person or a body of electors); also "the holding of a vote by a body of electors by established procedure; the time and place of such a vote," from Anglo-French eleccioun, Old

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