Advertisement

Origin and history of until

until(prep., conj.)

c. 1200, "onward to and into; onward as far as," from till (prep.). The first element is un- "as far as, up to" (also in unto), from Old Norse *und "as far as, up to," from Proto-Germanic *und- (source also of Old English oð "up to, as far as," Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Gothic und), from PIE *nti-, from root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before."

The two syllables have the same meaning. Originally also used of persons and places. As "continually, up to the time of" early 14c. As a conjunction from c. 1300.

Similar formation in Swedish intill, Danish indtil (northern English and Scottish formerly also had intill/intil "into, in"). The Modern German equivalent, bis (Old High German biaz), is a similar compound, of Old High German bi "by, at, to" and zu "to."

also from c. 1200

Entries linking to until

till(prep.)

Middle English til, tille "(going) onward to and into; (extending) as far as; (in time) continuing up to;" from Old English til (Northumbrian) "to," and from Old Norse til "to, until," both from Proto-Germanic *tilan (source also of Danish til, Old Frisian til "to, till," Gothic tils "convenient," German Ziel "limit, end, goal").

A common preposition in Scandinavian, serving in the place of English to, probably originally the accusative case of a noun otherwise lost but preserved in Icelandic tili "scope," the noun used to express aim, direction, purpose (as in aldrtili "death," literally "end of life"). Also compare German Ziel "end, limit, point aimed at, goal," and till (v.).

As a conjunction, "until, to the time that or when," from late Old English.

unto(prep.)

"onward to and into (a place); as far as, all the way to; up to the time of;" 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 writers of the 18th c.," according to OED (1989), and since chiefly in dignified, archaic, or Biblical styles.

Advertisement

More to explore

elope
1590s, "to run off," probably from Middle Dutch (ont)lopen "run away," from ont- "away from" (from Proto-Germanic *und- which also gave the first element in until, from PIE root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + lopen "to run," from Proto-
Brontë
surname of the famous family of English authors; the current version is a scholarly convention and until after the deaths...usual Brontë name was spelt in a variety of ways, ranging from Prunty to Brunty and Bruntee, with no consistent version until...
escrow
1590s, in law, "a writing fully executed by the parties, but put into the custody of a third person to hold until the fulfilment...The notion of a deed delivered to a third person until a future condition is satisfied led to the sense of "a deposit of...
today
Generally written as two words until 16c., after which it usually was written to-day until early 20c....
sequoia
The giant sequoia was unseen by Europeans until 1833 and unknown to scientists until 1852....This sat poorly with the Americans, and much ink was spilled until a French botanist provided the solution by transferring...
prophesy
The noun and verb spellings were not fully differentiated until 18c. Related: Prophesied; prophesying....
delight
Spelled delite until 16c.; the modern unetymological form is by influence of light, flight, etc....
screen
mid-14c., screne, "upright piece of furniture providing protection from heat of a fire, drafts, etc.," probably from a shortened (Anglo-French? compare Anglo-Latin screna) variant of Old North French escren, Old French escran "fire-screen, tester of a bed" (early 14c.). This is o
gig
"light, two-wheeled carriage, usually drawn by one horse" (1791), also "small boat," 1790, perhaps imitative of bouncing. There was a Middle English ghyg "spinning top" (in whyrlegyg, mid-15c.), also "giddy girl" (early 13c., also giglet), from Old Norse geiga "turn sideways," or
potential
late 14c., "possible" (as opposed to actual), "capable of being or becoming," from Old French potenciel and directly from Medieval Latin potentialis "potential," from Latin potentia "power, might, force;" figuratively "political power, authority, influence," from potens "powerful

Share until

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near until
Advertisement