Hitherto Meaning
/ˌhɪðəˈtuː/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
advUp to this or that time.
advUp to this place.
Sentence Examples
The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles.
When Mary consented to marry Tom, her hitherto flourishing life went quickly downhill.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The treasure was ____ hidden in a cave for centuries.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The species had been ____ unknown to science until its recent discovery in the jungle.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Gospell off S. Jhon ij:[10], folio cxxj, recto:
"[T]he greateſt and moſt active part of Mankind, has never hetherto been vvell contented vvith the preſent."
— 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Office of the Soveraign Representative”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 2nd part (Of Common-wealth), page 185:
"But Charles, as vvell from unvvillingneſs to alienate a province of ſo much value, as from diſguſt at the Pope, vvho had hitherto refuſed to join in the vvar againſt Francis, rejected the propoſal."
— 1769, William Robertson, “Book VII”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. […], volume III, London: […] W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam] Strahan, T[homas] Cadell, […]; and J. Balfour, […], →OCLC, page 10:
"The exhaustless conjecturings of that evening's full conversation, made such of the small party, as had hitherto been strangers, well acquainted with each other's turn of mind; […]"
— 1830, Anna Maria Porter, chapter X, in The Barony. […], volume III, London: […] [A[ndrew] & R[obert] Spottiswoode] for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, […], →OCLC, page 460:
"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."
— 1888, Karl Marx; Frederick [i.e., Friedrich] Engels, “Bourgeois and Proletarians”, in Samuel Moore, transl., edited by Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party […] Authorized English Translation […], Chicago, Ill.: Charles H[ope] Kerr & Company, published [1910], →OCLC, page 12:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The treasure was ____ hidden in a cave for centuries.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The species had been ____ unknown to science until its recent discovery in the jungle.