hitherto

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hitherto

/ˌhɪðəˈtuː/ UK
/ˈhɪðətuː/ UK
[ˌhɪðəˈtʰuː] UK
[ˈhɪðətʰuː] UK
/ˈhɪðəɹˌtu/ US
/ˌhɪðəɹˈtu/ US
[ˈhɪðəɹˌtʰu] US
[ˌhɪðəɹˈtʰu] US

Where it comes from

The adverb is derived from Middle English hiderto (“to the present time, until now; up to this point”), from hider (“in this direction, to or toward this place; up to the present time, until now”) (from Old English hider (“to here, hither”)) + to (“in the direction of, toward; etc.”). By surface analysis, hither + to.

The adjective is derived from the adverb.

adverb

also, formal, not comparable Up to this or that time. All men att the begynnynge⸝ ſett forth goode wyne⸝ And when men be dronke⸝ then thatt which is worſſe: Butt thou haſt kept backe the goode wyne hetherto.
Similar: up to now, heretofore · Opposite: from now on, henceforth, anymore, any more, as of now, going forward, hereafter, henceforward, henceforwards, in future, in the future, moving forward
archaic, literary, not comparable Up to this place. Hither to ſhalt thou come, but no further, and here ſhalt thou laye downe thy proude and hye wawes.^([sic – meaning waves])
archaic, literary, not comparable In speech or writing: up to this point; thus far. The great man dovvne, you marke his fauourite flyes, / The poore aduanc'd, makes friends of enemies, / And hetherto doth loue on fortune tend, / For vvho not needes, ſhall neuer lacke a friend, / And vvho in vvant a hollovv friend doth try, / Directly ſeaſons him his enemy.
not comparable, obsolete Synonym of hereto (“regarding this subject; to achieve this result; to this end”). And the eſpeciall intent of this meeting is, to receive our Biſhops directions for the adminiſtration of the Sacraments and Preaching, as his Articles informe us. Hitherto, if I can but hold me by my text, I hope not to fall into impertinencies.
Similar: hereto

adjective

archaic, not comparable Existing or occurring before now; former, preceding, previous. At the same time, then, that the categorical imperative can enjoin nothing without liability to exception but disinterested obedience to itself, it will have no lack of definite content. The particular duties which it enjoins will at least be all those in the practice of which, according to the hith
Similar: antecedent, anterior, earlier, erstwhile, ex, foregone, former, hitherto, old, olden, past, preceding

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: so far, as yet, thus far, heretofore, yet, til now, until now, now, formerly, past, ere, previously, before, previous, ever, far

adverb

Translations

Every language

adv up to this or that time

Español	en ese entonces, hasta ahora, hasta aquí, hasta este momento
한국어	여태 yeotae
日本語	今まで imamade, これまで koremade, これまでのところ koremade no tokoro
中文	到目前為止 /到目前为止 dào mùqián wéizhǐ, 迄今 qìjīn, 迄今為止 /迄今为止 qìjīn wéizhǐ, 至今 zhìjīn
Português	até agora
Français	jusqu'alors, jusqu'à maintenant, jusqu'à présent, jusqu'ici
Deutsch	bis dahin, bis dato, bisher, bis jetzt, bislang, bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt
Italiano	fino ad ora, fino allora, fino a qui, finora, fin qui
Română	până acum, până în acest moment
Русский	доны́не donýne, до сих по́р do six pór, подне́сь podnésʹ, пока́ poká, пока́ что poká što
العربية	حَتَّى الْآن ḥattā l-ʔān
עברית	עד כה

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MLA

"hitherto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hitherto. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hitherto. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hitherto

Chicago

"hitherto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hitherto.

BibTeX

@misc{hitherto_2026,
  title = {hitherto},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hitherto},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}