Etymograph

English

too

Too comes from Middle English to ‘also, in addition to’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *de ‘to, towards’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*de1‘to’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tō1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tō1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tō2‘furthermore’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500to2‘also’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1620too2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English to
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English too
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, The Decameron: “[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*deWiktionary, Old English to‘to’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tōWiktionary, Old English toreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tōWiktionary, Old English toreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150tōWiktionary, English too‘furthermore’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500toWiktionary, English too‘also’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1620tooWiktionary, English too. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1620, Giovanni Bocaccio, The Decameron: “[…]purſued his vnneighbourly purpoſe in ſuch ſort: that hee…”

The story

The sense of "in addition, also" deriving from the original meaning of "apart, separately" (compare Old English prefix tō- (‘apart’)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *de ‘to, towards’

dice, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *tō

together, 1 more

through Old English tō ‘furthermore, also, besides’

tomorrow, 1 more

through Middle English to ‘also, in addition to’

to, toe

Today it means

adv Likewise.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “too”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English to. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *de / too

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