Etymograph

English

into

Into comes from Middle English in-to, and goes back to Old English intō.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150intō1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in-to1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1678into1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English into
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, William Walker, The Doctrine of Baptisms: or: “Then for St. Ambroſe, his expreſſion is but in…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150intōWiktionary, English into
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in-toWiktionary, English into
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1678intoWiktionary, English into. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, William Walker, The Doctrine of Baptisms: or: “Then for St. Ambroſe, his expreſſion is but in…”

A compound of in + to

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in

Proto-West Germanic *in

Old English in

Middle English in ‘inside’

English in

Proto-Indo-European *de ‘to’

…

Proto-Germanic *tō

Proto-West Germanic *tō

Old English tō ‘to’

Middle English to

English to

Every English word from Old English intō

Today it means

prep To or towards the inside of.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “into”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English intō / into

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