intoprep.adj.
/ˈɪntuː/, /ˈɪntʊ/, /ˈɪntə/, U.S. /ˈɪntu/, /ˈɪntə/ General Sense:—The preposition expressing motion from without to a point within limits of space, time, condition, circumstance, etc.; the motion which results in the position expressed by in n.2, or which is directed towards that position.In the Teutonic languages, as in Latin, this was originally expressed by the prep. in followed by the accusative or case of direction, and so distinguished from the simple notion of position expressed by in with the locative (or dative); but, when the case-endings were becoming weakened or lost in Old English, so that the language was losing the power of making the distinction expressed in Latin by in aquā, in aquam, the periphrasis in tó, intó, was substituted for the latter. The other Teutonic languages, having retained the inflexions, esp. in the article and demonstrative words, have not required a parallel formation: cf. German in dem (im) wasser, in das (ins) wasser. In Old English intó was usually, like the simple tó, construed with the dative; but also, not infrequently, with the accusative, like the simple in (on) which it superseded, or the Latin in which it rendered: see sense A. 1. As the prep. in, partly from its Old English blending with on (see in prep. 2a), partly from its identification with Latin in, had various uses now usually expressed by other prepositions, so into was formerly used in senses now properly expressed by unto, upon, towards, against, etc.: see sense A. II. The earlier use of in to express motion died out gradually, so that there long remained (and still remain) phrases and constructions in which in has the sense of into (see in prep. 33); conversely, in some dialects, and esp. in Central and North-eastern Scotch, into was extended to express position, and thus took the sense of in (cf. French en, dans in, into): see sense A. III.
A. prep.
I. Of motion or direction: ordinary uses.
1.
a. Expressing motion to a position within a space or thing: To a point within the limits of; to the interior of; so as to enter. In reference to a space or thing having material extension. Regularly after verbs of going, coming, bringing, putting, sending, and the like.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > in or into (of motion) [preposition]
ineOE
intoa1000
the world > space > direction > specific directions > [preposition] > in inward direction to
intoa1000
a1000 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker MS.) ann. 876 Her hiene bestæl se here into Werham.
a1000 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker MS.) ann. 877 Her cuom se here into Escan ceastre from Werham.
c1000 Ælfric Genesis vii. 7 Noe eode into þam arce.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) iv. 24 Ða ferde hys hlisa into ealle Syriam.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 15 Farað into ealne middan-eard.
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1016 Þa ferdon hi in to Stæfford scire & into Scrobbes byrig & to Legeceastre.
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1083 Sume urnon in to cyrcean..& hi ferdon æfter heom into þam mynstre.
11.. Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1100 Se cyng..þone biscop..into þam ture on Lundene let gebringon.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 85 Þe corne þe me scal don in to þe gernere þet is in to heuene.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 8706 Helyas forrþrihht anan. Þær stah inn to þatt karrte.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 2700 He fley in to walis.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxviii. 7 Lo! he schal go bifore ȝou in to Galilee.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 13459 Ihesus clomb vp into [Vesp. vn-til, Gött. intill, Fairf. vn to] an hille.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 7552 Wid þis he went in-to þe place.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin i. 17 They entred in to a chamber.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. vi. D Thou shalt go in to the Arcke.
1652 J. Wright tr. J.-P. Camus Nature's Paradox 319 Beeing come into the presence of him, whom hee had so dearely loved.
1658 W. Sanderson Graphice 81 Strike into the brick or stone-wall, stumps of head-nails.
1759 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 63/1 No rascally piccaroon, or pirate, could have fired worse stuff into us.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 53 I may speak my grief into thine ear.
1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VI. l. 215 He made an expedition into Samaria, to punish the Samaritans.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xxi. i, in Maud & Other Poems 67 Come into the garden, Maud.
b. Also with verbs in which the idea of motion is not explicitly expressed.
Π
971 Blickl. Hom. 79 Hi..wið feo sealdon [þæt folc] wide into leodscipas.
c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 33 For to here [= hire] werkmen in~to his winyarde.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14788 Þu scalt..in-to hefne-riche.
?a1500 Chester Pl. x. 274 Upon myne asse shalt thou now sit, into Egipt till we hytt.
1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII c. 34 Preamble The seid Piers Werbek..aryved into this Land.
1622 W. Laud Wks. (1853) III. 141 I wrote to my Lord of Buckingham into Spain.
a1641 R. Montagu Acts & Monuments (1642) v. 326 In 749. he was employed into Pannonia, against the rebels.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 103 That the girders be strong, and very well Dove-tayld, one into another.
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xii. 214 A Pin..to fit hard and stiff into the round Hole.
1729 J. G. Scheuchzer in Philos. Trans. 1727–8 (Royal Soc.) 35 588 It..looses itself jointly with that River into the Adriatick Gulf.
1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 54 779 He..bit into it with the furious eagerness of a wolf.
1895 Sir A. Kekewich in Law Times Rep. 73 663/1 A sensible limitation which can easily be read into deed or will.
c. With the verb understood by ellipsis, or expressed in a verbal noun or other word.
Π
1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) ix. 227 The one waye was towarde Fraunce, the other in to Spayne, the other in to Galyce, and the fourth in to Gascoyn.
1610 R. Amerie Briefe Relation Shewes in R. Davies Chesters Triumph sig. A3 [He] stood upon his hands with his feete into the Ayre.
1670 R. Baxter Cure Church-div. 356 What influence it may have into our conclusions.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) ii. iv. 157 Which may be the material constituents or ingredients into Artificial Structures.
1691 J. Ray Acct. Errors in Coll. Eng. Words 160 That D is an ingredient into it Children do easily discern.
1852 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 195 Darwin is into his new house.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 28 Dec. 2/1 Establishing special tariffs for the sole benefit of German exports into Russia.
1892 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads 76 At dusk he harries the Abazai—at dawn he is into Bonair.
2. Pregnant uses.
a. = Into the possession of.
Π
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 675 Nu gife ic Sce Peter to dæi in to his minstre..þas landes.
a1100 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 852 To þæt forewearde þæt æfter his dæi scolde þæt land in to þe minstre.
1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 195 (note) In the following year [998] Leofwine, Wulfstan's son, willed some lands ‘into Westminster’.
1883 Law Times Rep. 50 192/2 There were alternative modes of getting the legal estate into the same person.
b. The name of the thing or place after into often includes or means its action or function. Cf. in prep. 1a(b), 5.
Π
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) James v. 4 The cry of hem entride in to the erys of the Lord of hoostis.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Gen. xiv. D God..hath delyuered thine enemies in to thy handes.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 216 Reason might beate thus muche into our heades.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 22 Y'are falne into a Princely hand. View more context for this quotation
1625 W. Laud Wks. (1847) I. 116 When he first came into the throne.
1659 D. Pell Πελαγος 20 Not fit to put into the place of government.
1674 tr. P. M. de la Martinière New Voy. Northern Countries 90 Our Elks being harnessed, and put into the Sledges.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 540 An Earl of Devonshire could not engage to bring ten men into the field.
c. Used with collectives, it frequently expresses entrance or admission to membership or participation. Cf. in prep. 3, 5.
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1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxxxiv I will neither enter into your league, nor take truce with the Frenche kyng.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 619 They would admit none into their Societie, but such as were learned.
1643 S. Marshall Copy of Let. 27 Proclamations..that no Papists should be entertained into His Majesties Army.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 15. ⁋2 It was one of the most wealthy Families in Great Britain into which I was born.
a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 193 Many..ingenious men went into the Society for natural Philosophy.
1840 T. B. Macaulay Ranke's Hist. in Ess. (1887) 584 Marrying his son into one of the great continental houses.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 39 A class into which his own children must descend.
1878 J. Morley Condorcet 47 Condorcet was elected into the Academy.
3. In reference to non-physical realms, regions of thought, departments or faculties of the mind, etc., treated as having extension or content. Cf. in prep. 7.
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a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 52/2 These thinges..being beaten into the dukes minde.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 757 Richarde..began..to chalenge the Crowne, puttyng his clayme into the Parliament.
1603 R. Johnson tr. G. Botero Hist. Descr. Worlde 258 To pierce..into the secrete counsels of the King of Spaine.
a1656 J. Hales Golden Remains (1659) i. 61 I will therefore recal into your memories so much of my former Meditations.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues II. 226 We shall have to take Damon into our counsels.
1887 ‘L. Carroll’ Game of Logic iv. 93 That lets me into a little fact about you!
4.
a. In reference to a state or condition.
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c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxv. 21 Ga into þines hlafordes blisse.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 67 Ne led us noht in to costnunga.
c1230 Hali Meid. 5 Nis ha witerliche akast & in to þeowdom idrahen.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 117 We ziggeþ ‘Lyene uader, ne led ous naȝt in-to uondinge, þet is ne þole naȝt þet we go in-to consentinge’.
c1400 Mandeville Voiage & Travaile (1839) xi. 89 He fell in to seknesse.
a1535 T. More Hist. Richard III in Wks. (1557) 35/2 Many of them..growen into his fauoure.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Eiv Whan men know not, they..faull in to error.
1590 R. Harvey Plaine Percevall sig. C2 He put those lies into print vnlawfully.
1644 W. Laud Wks. (1854) IV. 152 I grew into want.
1671 Lady M. Bertie in 12th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1890) App. v. 23 Wee are all goeing into mourning for the Dutchesse of York.
1731 Gentleman's Mag. 1 391/1 This put Bluster into such a Passion.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus iii. xii. 107/1 An ambrosial joy as of over-weariness falling into sleep.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 117 The Scottish treasury was put into commission.
1885 S. Cox Expos. 1st Ser. iii. 37 He was before the first Adam, and called him into being.
1895 Law Times Rep. 73 21/2 [He] got into difficulties and he became bankrupt in 1880.
b. The state or condition may be expressed by a concrete noun. (Akin to A. 2b.)
Π
1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 1 Apr. (1965) I. 321 She could not forbear bursting into Tears.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield II. vi. 91 They now seemed all repentance, and melting into tears bid me farewell.
1801 M. Edgeworth Angelina iv, in Moral Tales II. 125 Angelina burst into tears.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 21 July 349/1 Folk who come unexpectedly into a little property.
5. In reference to occupation or action.
Π
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 90 Into sic talk fell thay.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Socrates in Panoplie Epist. 228 Fell into an exceeding great laughter.
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 65 The Prince afterwards falling into discourse of the generall affaires.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 49. ⁋2 What Measures the Allies must enter into.
1712 E. Budgell Spectator No. 365. ¶11 Since I am got into Quotations, I shall conclude this Head with Virgil's Advice to young People.
1843 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 54 806 The crowd burst into yells of applause.
1885 Manch. Examiner 26 June 5/3 To coax or cajole the Pope into making an appointment.
1887 A. Birrell Obiter Dicta 2nd Ser. 174 Burke flung himself into farming.
6.
a. Introducing the substance or form into which anything turns or grows, or is changed, moulded, fashioned, or made.
Π
c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 29 [The water] haste~liche was i-went into wyne.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 4105 Sche chaunged my sone In-to a wilde werwolf.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 165 Sche..kutte þe hyde into a þong þat was ful long and ful smal.
c1400 Mandeville Voiage & Travaile (1839) Prol. 5 I haue put this boke out of latyn into frensch, and translated it aȝen out of Frensch into englyssch.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) v. 15 Þe water..congelez in to gude salt.
1543 More's Hist. Richard III in Chron. J. Hardyng f. lxxviiv The kyng & the quene chaunged theim into cloth of gold.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. iv. 34 That one vowell may be chaunged in a word, & specially, A into O, which in some mannes mouth soundeth often tymes lyke.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 115 Fresh curds newly pressed, and made into little cheeses.
a1657 W. Burton Comm. Antoninus his Itinerary (1658) 26 Valleys exalted into Mountaines, and great Hills abased into Valleys.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 72 The Indians..spin it into fine thred.
1792 Hist. in Ann. Reg. 10/2 Anarchy, according to the nature of extremes, ran into despotism.
1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 74 The twilight thickened into night.
1865 W. F. Hook Lives Archbps. IV. xiii. 205 They..had formed themselves into a school.
1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 205 If we knew how to convert stones into gold.
1900 N.E.D. at Into Mod. The stalks and leaves are collected into heaps and burned.
b. Introducing the condition or result brought about by some action.
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c1540 Pilgrim's Tale 283 in F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) App. i. 85 To teache men in-to better lyf.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. ii. v. i. 629 Till he be wayned from anger..and habituated into another course.
1678 S. Butler Ladies Answer to Knight in Hudibras: Third Pt. 265 The motives, which t' induce, Or fright us into Love, you use.
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 36 All dies into new Life.
1780 W. Cowper Table Talk 546 Neglected talents rust into decay.
1813 Ld. Byron Bride Abydos i. xi. 302 I will kiss thee into rest.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 538 The Covenanters had been persecuted into insurrection.
1890 L. Stephen in Dict. National Biogr. XXI. 251/1 Birched into Latin grammar by his master.
7. Introducing the parts produced by division, breaking, folding, and the like.
Π
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 1 Sam. xv. 33 Samuel hewide hym into gobbetis before the Lord.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 244 His mantel..He kut it into pieces twelve.
1551 T. Wilson Rule of Reason sig. Eijv The whole is diuided into his partes as..The body is diuided into the head, bealie, handes and feete.
1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens 116 The Shore..bends into three several bows, which do make so many Harbours.
1799 W. Yonge in T. Beddoes Contrib. Physical & Med. Knowl. 300 A cambric handkerchief, folded into six or eight doubles.
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 192 (note) The antique was broken into several pieces.
1886 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 32 28 The authorities..are divisible into two classes.
1892 Law Times 93 417/1 The area of the City..is partitioned into twenty-eight wards.
8. Used technically with the verb multiply v.e.g. Two numbers multiplied into each other.
9. As an addition or accession to: as into the bargain, into the boot (cf. bargain n.1 7, boot n.1 1). [Perhaps = ‘in, to the bargain’, ‘in, to boot’: compare in adv. 6]
Π
1646 H. Moseley in J. Suckling Fragmenta Aurea To Rdr. sig. A3v A man may buy the reputation of some Authors into the price of their Volume.
1659 T. Willsford Architectonice 14 The spar-feet and Eaves-board, are in common building, measured into the whole Roof.
1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals ii. ii I'll make her the best husband in the world, and Lady O' Trigger into the bargain.
1885 ‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus x. 121 A son-in-law with whom she had nothing in common, and who was a hairdresser into the bargain.
10. Expressing direction without actual motion of the agent after such verbs as turn, look, search.
Π
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. iii. 56 If you can looke into the Seedes of Time. View more context for this quotation
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 216 The Ile..giues a large prospect into the Ocean.
1676 tr. G. Guillet de Saint-Georges Acct. Voy. Athens 311 That you must..search deeply into the merits of the Cause.
1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II x. 377 They did not take time to inquire into their number.
1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers II. xviii. 263 He examined into every fissure in the crags.
1891 Law Times 92 105/1 [They] inquire minutely into the evidence.
11. Introducing a period of time to the midst of which anything advances or continues.
Π
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. v. 188 How farre into the morning is it Lordes? View more context for this quotation
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations III. xiii. 197 We had now got into the month of March.
1861 M. Pattison in Westm. Rev. Apr. 415 This obligation they discharged far down into Protestant and peaceful times.
1885 Manch. Examiner 10 Sept. 5/5 The drizzling rain..continued far into the night.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. viii. 249 Far on into life [we] were glad when any chance brought us together again.
1890 G. M. Fenn Double Knot III. xi. 154 It was well into the next season before they were back.
II. Obsolete senses, related to Middle English uses of in, or rendering Latin in with accusative.† 12. Unto, even unto, even to (a place or point); to the very... Obsolete.† 13. Towards, in the direction of. Obsolete. (Cf. sense A. 10.)† 14. Unto, until, on to, up to (a time or date).† 15. To the number of, as many as. Obsolete.† 16. Unto, to (a thing or person). Obsolete.† 17. Unto (a purpose or result); in order to, with a view to. Obsolete.† 18. In order to be; for; as: after choose, elect, take, etc. Obsolete.† 19. Upon on: of motion or direction. Obsolete.† 20. To, among (a number). Obsolete. Cf. A. 7.† 21. Defining the particular part of anything in which it is penetrated, pierced, etc. Cf. in prep. 8a.
Π
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 7036 Heo hatieð þe swiðe. in-to þan bare dæðe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2145 Belin ȝef his leue broþer. anne dal of his londe..to halden norð in-to þare sæ.
13.. K. Alis. 777 Bulsifal neied so loude, That hit schrillith into the cloude.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. cxxxvii. [cxxxiii.] 382 In the chapell he was vnarmed of all his peces into his doublet.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxiij [They] came wel appareled to Westmynster, & sodeynly stryped them into their shertes.
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c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 345/11 Abouten eiȝte hondret mile Engelond long is Fram þe South into þe North.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 3384 Þai held..þe landes þat lay in to þe est.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 61 Youre hertis ye lyft up into the est, And al your body and knees bowe a-downe.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. I. 56 The first of these foure wayes was named Fosse, the which stretcheth out of the South, into the North.
1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 38 A streight line drawn..from the North-East into the South.
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c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 1420 Fro þat day in-to þys myn herte haþ he yraft.
c1380 J. Wyclif Last Age Church p. xxvi Fro þe by-gynnynge of ebrew lettris in to Crist..weren two and twenty hundriddis of yeeris.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 86 Into tyme that thei schulden falle into fiȝting.
c1450 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi iii. xx. 86 Fro þe houre of my birþe into the daie of my goynge oute of þis worlde.
1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1314/1 Hee loued theym in to the ende.
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c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xviii. 191 He hath also in to a xiiij mil Olifauntz or mo.
1441 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) p. lvi Sir William Plompton with other officers came to Burghbrig..& with him into xxiiij persons.
Π
1382 J. Wyclif Psalms cxxxiii[i]. 2 Heueth vp ȝoure hondis in to holi thingis.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 181 Sche dide a good werk into him.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 267 If..the freend come into him personali.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 2 Ȝoure soule, in þis pytt of corrupte watyr, nedyth to cry in-to god.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Jer. xliii. 11 He shal strike the Land of Ægypt: those that into death, into death..and those that into the sword, into the sword.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) i. vi. 168 That he enchants Societies into him. View more context for this quotation
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c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxvi. 28 My blood..whiche shal be shed out for many, in to remissioun of synnys.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 181 Sche did it into the mynde of him and..into the biriyng of him.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 4 He..leuiþ to wirke, & doþ contrarily directly, & in to þe harme of his maistir.
1502 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 95 Into witnesse herof..I haue put my seale.
Π
1382 J. Wyclif Psalms cxxxi[i]. 13 He ches it in to dwelling to hym.
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 4 If ani chosun of God Himselue & of þe puple, in to pope or prelate, & ordend in to vicar of Crist [etc.].
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 162 Agage the kynge of amalech into his prysoner he toke.
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c1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851) 116 Hise yȝen shule loke in to pore men.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 351 Certes synne of siche children turneþ in to heed of þer fadir.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 97 That ȝe bileeue in to him which he sende.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 703 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 316 In-to þe floure þan done fel I.
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1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Gviv The worke beyng diuyded into so great a numbre of workemen.
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1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccxlii. 356 Kyng Henry..strake kyng Dampeter into the body.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxvjv Putting of his gorget, sodainly wt an arrowe [he] was striken into the throte.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper iii. 201 John James..with a rusty dagger..did stab into the breast Peter Heywood.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 31 I..fir'd again, and shot him [sc. a lion] into the Head.
1788 New London Mag. 8 He was shot into the shoulder.
III. Of position or involvement.
22. Of position: = in prep. (After 1400 characteristically Scottish)
ΚΠ
971 Blickl. Hom. 205 Michael..himsylfa þæt tacn [MS. tanc] þæs siges gesette & gecyðde into þy swiðan slæpe.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 10540 Worre was in to al þis lond.
c1330 Assump. Virg. (B.M. MS.) 772 Tho wist þe apostles, I-wis, The bodi was in to paradis.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 4948 He suffreþ my worschip spille in tal þys countre wyde.
a1400 Octouian 60 In Parys was y-feld ech a sale Into all the toun.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 602 Ye kyng sat into parleament.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Preaching of Swallow l. 1713 in Poems (1981) 67 That samin seasoun, in to ane soft morning.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 49 Nīcy [a1586 mercy] in to womanheid is a mekle vertu.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. Prol. f. 3v Ane man, that behaldis his bodaly face into ane myrrour.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour l. 1216 in Wks. (1931) I Bot, in to rest, schorte tyme indurit his ryng.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1846) I. 73 Deuouring woulves into sheip skynnes.
1584 King James VI & I Ess. Prentise Poesie sig. Dij Her nynevoced mouth resembled into sound The daunce harmonious making heauen resound.
1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. 81 a He came to Siracuse, into which Citty he was entertained as amongst other inhabyters.
1626 Jas. Haig in J. Russell Haigs of Bemersyde (1881) vii. 178 Nothing..whereof into your letter you did assure me she had written.
1658 Kirk Sess. Rec. in Campbell Balmerino (1899) 409 The hous..free and sufficient for dwelling into.
a1776 ‘Get up & bar the Door’ ix, in D. Herd Anc. & Mod. Sc. Songs (1776) II. 160 What ails ye at the puddin' bree, That boils into the pan?
1900 N.E.D. at Into Mod. north-east Sc. ‘He's bidin' into a new hoose.’
23. Interested or involved in; knowledgeable about. colloquial.
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1969 Rolling Stone 28 Jan. 19/1 I tend to like the stuff the rock groups are doing because they're creative and original, and that's something I'm very much into.
1969 Down Beat 20 Mar. 17/1 She is a Libra, for those of you who are into that.
1969 It 4 July 15/3 He was basically into being a hustler, which he was very, very good at.
1971 Ink 12 June 19/1 This should have been the high~light of the evening, but the audience just wasn't into it.
1971 New Yorker 11 Sept. 48 First I was into Zen, then I was into peace, then I was into love, then I was into freedom, then I was into religion. Now I'm into money.
1973 Listener 15 Feb. 209/1 Margaret is ‘into’ astrology, and consults the I-Ching each morning.
B. adj.
Mathematics. Used to designate a mapping (of one set ‘into’ another (sense A. 6a)) that is not necessarily ‘onto’.
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the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > expressing relation in mapping [preposition]
to be on about1907
into1949
the world > relative properties > number > arithmetic or algebraic operations > transformation > [adjective] > having specific correspondence > of mapping into or onto
to be on about1907
on to1942
into1949
1949 S. Lefschetz Introd. Topol. Index 215 Into transformation.
1958 K. S. Miller Elem. Mod. Abstr. Algebra i. 21 Since the mapping is into, there may exist elements in S which have no preimage in S.
1968 E. T. Copson Metric Spaces vii. 85 Every ‘onto’ mapping is ‘into’ but not all ‘into’ mappings are ‘onto’.
Draft additions 1993
d. Used with verbs denoting impact or pressure to signify forceful contact or collision: (up) against.
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1849 T. T. Johnson Sights Gold Region xxii. 211 The afternoon of our ‘first day out’, was signalized by running smash into a big sycamore tree.
1895 Law Times Rep. 73 623/1 To try and prevent the train from running into the children.
1925 V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway 100 The child ran full tilt into her, fell flat, and burst out crying.
1951 G. Greene End of Affair ii. v. 82 I thought I was still on my feet and I was puzzled by the darkness: somebody seemed to be pressing a cold fist into my cheek and my mouth was salty with blood.
1971 Daily Tel. 8 Feb. 2/6 A car crashed into a bus stop queue in Aigburth Road, Liverpool, yesterday.
1990 Los Angeles May 102/1 The jogglers smashed into two kids on beach bikes who collided with two skaters going the other way.
Draft additions 1993
Mathematics.† a. Used to indicate multiplication, as to multiply x into y (by considering the multiplicand replicated once for each unit of the multiplier). Obsolete.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > mathematical symbol [preposition] > indicating multiplication
intoc1430
c1430 Art of Nombryng (Early Eng. Text Soc.) (1922) 46 Nombre superficial is þat comethe of ledynge [= multiplying] of oo nombre into a-nother.
1543 R. Record Ground of Artes i. sig. O.viii I multiply ye fyrst nomber 3 i [n] to ye second 40000, & it yeldeth 120000.
1660 tr. I. Barrow Euclide's Elements i. 29 Draw 3 into 4, there will be produced 12.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Plain 20 is a plain Number, produced by the Multiplication of 5 into 4.
1839 T. De Quincey Lake Reminiscences in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 10/1 An elderly man, who confessed to having passed the grand climacterical year (9 multiplied into 7) of 63.
1890 Taber in Proc. London Math. Soc. 22 73 The involutant of m, n, two matrices of order ω, is the resultant of the ω2 scalar equations obtained by equating to zero a linear function with scalar coefficients of the ω2 matrices which result from multiplying 1, m, m2,…mω−1 into 1, n, n2,…nω−1.
b. Used to indicate division (of the divisor into the dividend); also elliptical for ‘divided into’.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > mathematical symbol [preposition] > indicating division
intoc1869
c1869 T. Taylor & A. W. Dubourg New Men & Old Acres i. 12 How do you divide one million one hundred and eighty one thousand six hundred pounds five shillings and two pence, by six shillings and eight pence? Sixes into five you can't, you know, and eights into two, I'll be hanged if you can.
1967 A. Newman (title) Three into two won't go.
1989 Borowski & Borwein Dict. Math. 306 Into,..divided into, in expressions such as ‘5 into 2 won't go’.
Draft additions September 2008
colloquial (originally U.S.). Romantically or sexually interested in (a person).
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1976 R. Nix et al. in ‘Atlanta Rhythm Section’ Rock & Roll Alternative (album) (title of song) So into you.
1991 S. Schepps Encino Man (film script) (O.E.D. Archive) 9 Mat is the dopest guy in school and he's into you. Take advantage of it while you can.
1998 J. M. Townsend What Women want—What Men Want ii. 55 I had sex with girls I didn't like because it was convenient. They were really into me, and it made me feel really guilty.
2004 G. Behrendt & L. Tuccillo He's just not that into You 1 Greg listened intently to the story..and then said to the woman in question, ‘Listen, it sounds like he's just not that into you.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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prep.adj.971