too (English)

Where does "too" come from?

The English adverb 'too' evolved from the Middle English 'to'[1]. This form traces back to the Old English 'tō', which functioned with the meanings 'furthermore', 'also', and 'besides'[1]. Originally, this word was an adverbial usage of the preposition 'tō', which itself descended from the Proto-Germanic 'tō' or 'ta'[3][5][9]. Interestingly, the sense of 'also' or 'in addition' emerged from an earlier meaning of 'apart' or 'separately'[1]. Today, 'too' remains a doublet of the common preposition 'to'[1].

Open questions

The derivation of the sense of also from the meaning of apart is an interpreted development in the history of the word. [1]

Full etymology tree

too (English), 'Likewise.'
- inherited to (Middle English), 'toe'
  - inherited to (Old English), 'to, into'
    - inherited *tō (Proto-West Germanic)
      - inherited *tō (Proto-Germanic), 'to'
        inherited *doh₁ (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *de (Proto-Indo-European), 'to, towards'

Ancestors

to (Middle English)
to (Old English)

Cognates and doublets

to (English)

Descendants and derived words

a bridge too far (English)
all too (English)
and your little dog too (English)
be a hundred years too early (English)
can too (English)
eat one's cake and have it too (English)
enough is too much (English)
fly too close to the sun (English)
go too far (English)
have a few too many (English)
have one's cake and eat it too (English)
hit too close to home (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris