to

Etymology

From Middle English to, from Old English tō, from Proto-Germanic *tō ~ *ta, from Proto-Indo-European *de ~ *do (“to”). Cognate with Scots tae, to (“to”), North Frisian to, tö, tu (“to”), Saterland Frisian tou (“to”), Low German to (“to”), Dutch toe (“to”), German zu (“to”), West Frisian ta (“to”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian ndaj (“towards”), Irish do (“to, for”), Breton da (“to, for”), Welsh i (“to, for”), Russian до (do, “to”). Doublet of too.

prep

1. Indicating destination: In the direction of, so as to arrive at.
   We are walking to the shop.
   Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000. September 28 2013, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-09-28
2. Used to indicate the target or recipient of an action.
   I gave the book to him.
   I spoke to him earlier.
   He devoted himself to education.
   They drank to his health.
3. Used to indicate result of action.
   His face was beaten to a pulp.
4. Used to indicate a resulting feeling or emotion.
   To everyone's great relief, the tuneless carol singers finally ceased their warbling.
5. Used after an adjective to indicate its application.
   similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.
6. Denotes the end of a range.
   It takes 2 to 4 weeks to process typical applications.
7. (obsolete) As a.
   With God to friend (with God as a friend); with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe); lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice); took her to wife (took her as a wife); was sold to slave (was sold as a slave).
8. Used to indicate a ratio or comparison; compared to, as against.
   one to one = 1:1
   ten to one = 10:1.
   I have ten dollars to your four.
   In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three. April 22, 2012, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport
9. (arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.
   Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
   Three to the power of two is nine.
   Three to the second is nine.
10. (time) Preceding the next hour.
    What's the time? – It's quarter to four in the afternoon (or 3:45 pm).
    1. (informal) Often used without the hour
       It’s quarter to (3:45, or 4:45, or whatever time ending in 45 would make the most sense)
11. Used to describe what something consists of or contains.
    Anyone could do this job; there's nothing to it.
    There's a lot of sense to what he says.
    The name has a nice ring to it.
12. According to.
    Our holiday did not go to plan.
13. (Canada, Cornwall (UK), Newfoundland, Wales, West Midlands (UK)) At.
    Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.
    Where are you to?

adv

1. (regionalism) Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.
   Please push the door to.
2. (nautical) Into the wind.
3. Misspelling of too.