unto

Meanings

1. 1
   conj

   Up to the time or degree that; until.

   Unto This Last (John Ruskin)

2. 2
   prep

   Up to; indicates a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it.

   Sir Gawain rode unto the nearby castle.

3. 3
   prep

   To; indicates an indirect object.

   And the Lord said unto Moses […]

4. 4
   prep

   Down to the last; encompassing even every.

   ⁠I do but sing because I must, And pipe but as the linnets sing: And unto one her note is gay, ⁠For now her little ones have ranged; ⁠And unto one her note is changed, Because her brood is stol’n away.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English unto, from Old English *untō, *und tō, equivalent to un- (“against; toward; up to”) + to. Cognate with Old Frisian ont to ("until"; > Saterland Frisian antou (“until”)) (cf. Old Frisian und (“up to; till”), Old Frisian til (“till; to”)), Old Saxon untō, untuo (“until”), Old High German unze, unzi, unza (“until”), Old Norse und (“as far as; up to”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴 (untē, “until; as long as”).