today

A1 Topic:Time

Also spelled to-day

US /təˈdeɪ/ UK /təˈdeɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #224

Meanings

1

adv
On this day, not yesterday or tomorrow.

I can't meet you today, but I'm free tomorrow.
2

noun
This day; the day that is happening now.

Today is the day we finally fix this.
3

adv
In the present time; these days.

Today we have machines to do most of that work.
4

noun
The present time or age.

The world of today is very different from the past.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 adv · in the present time; these... nowadays

Word family

Forms todays

Derived forms yesterday-today-and-tomorrowyesterday-today-tomorrow

Appears in

Proverbs (8)

See all

Simplified etymology

Today is an Old English formation combining to with day. It was formed in the same way as tomorrow and tonight.

Etymology

From Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag (“today”), Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”), German Low German vandage, vandaag (“today”), Swedish i dag, idag (“today”).

today Middle English tōdæġ Old English

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Topics

Time

External links

# today

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adv, noun
**IPA (US):** /təˈdeɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /təˈdeɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 224

## Meanings
1. On this day, not yesterday or tomorrow.
2. This day; the day that is happening now.
3. In the present time; these days.
4. The present time or age.

## Examples
- I can't meet you today, but I'm free tomorrow.
- Today is the day we finally fix this.
- Today we have machines to do most of that work.
- The world of today is very different from the past.

## Derived Forms
- yesterday-today-and-tomorrow
- yesterday-today-tomorrow

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: today
- Root: tōdæġ

## Etymology
From Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag (“today”), Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”), German Low German vandage, vandaag (“today”), Swedish i dag, idag (“today”).

## AI Etymology
Today is from Middle English today, to-daie, todæig, from Old English tōdæġ, tō dæġe (“today”, literally “on [the/this] day, [this] day forward”), equivalent to to + day. Compare Saterland Frisian däälich (“today”), Dutch vandaag (“today”), Old Saxon hindag (“today”, literally “[this] day forward”), German Low German vandage, vandaag (“today”), Swedish i dag, idag (“today”). In present-day use, it can mean on this day, not yesterday or tomorrow, or this day; the day that is happening now. Derived formations include yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, yesterday-today-tomorrow.

## Topics
- Time

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