hitherto

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English

Etymology

From Middle English hiderto, corresponding to hither +‎ to.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhɪðəˌtuː/, /ˌhɪðəˈtuː/, ,
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈhɪðɚˌtu/, /ˌhɪðɚˈtu/, ,
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adverb

hitherto (not comparable)

  1. (formal, also law) Up to this or that time or point.
    Synonyms: up to now, heretofore; see also Thesaurus:hitherto
    Antonyms: from now on, henceforth; see also Thesaurus:henceforth
    • 1830, Anna Maria Porter, The Barony, volume 3, page 460:
      The exhaustless conjecturings of that evening's full conversation, made such of the small party, as had hitherto been strangers, well acquainted with each other's turn of mind []
    • 1910 [1848 February 21], Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, chapter I, in Samuel Moore, transl., edited by Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & company, page 12:
      The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.
    • 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 124:
      The results of this study argue for a greater endonormativity in Indian English than has hitherto been recognised.
    • 2021 October 20, Paul Stephen, “Leisure and pleasure on the Far North Line”, in RAIL, number 942, page 49:
      North of Tain [...], the line reaches the southern shore of Dornoch Firth. Here, the railway and the A9 trunk road, which have hitherto run close together, diverge.

Translations

References