- 1迄今；至今；到目前為止（很書面，口語少用）
This word means “until now” or “up to this time”. You use it when you want to talk about everything that has been true before this moment — the way things were, the facts people had, the life someone had lived — right up to the point where you are speaking. After hitherto, something is often about to change, or a new fact is about to walk in. It is a rather old, rather formal word. You will meet it in books, in serious news, in university writing, and in legal language. You will almost never hear a young person say it while chatting; they say until now, so far, or up to now instead. It also sits comfortably in front of an adjective: a hitherto unknown island, a hitherto secret plan — that is still the same idea, just stuck in front of a describing word. The adjective use grew out of the adverb; it is not a separate life. Be careful with time’s direction. Hitherto looks backward (up to now). Words like from now on look forward. They are not twins. Though actually, the inside it once meant “to this place”, so a student can feel it should mean “to here”. In this word the “here” has become “this moment in time”, not a place on the map.
From the word’s history
From Middle English hiderto: hider 'to here' + to; hither + to.
來自中古英文 hiderto：hider（到這裡）加 to，即「到目前為止」。
組成From Middle English hiderto (“to the present time, until now; up to this point”), from hider (“in this direction; up to the present time”) — from Old English hider (“to here, hither”) — + to (“toward”). By surface analysis, hither + to. The adjective is derived from the adverb.
同家族的字
- hitherthe first half; “to this place”, and in this word that “place” has become “this time”
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
hithertoadv/ˌhɪðəˈtuː/
- 1
formallawUp to this or that time.
- 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.
- [T]he greateſt and moſt active part of Mankind, has never hetherto been vvell contented vvith the preſent.
- 2
archaicliteraryUp to this place.
- Hither to ſhalt thou come, but no further, and here ſhalt thou laye downe thy proude and hye wawes.^([sic – meaning waves])
- The Archdeacon hath diuided it / Into three limits very equally: / England from Trent, and Seuerne hitherto, / By South and Eaſt is to my part aſsignd: […]
- 3
archaicliteraryIn speech or writing: up to this point; thus far.
- The great man dovvne, you marke his fauourite flyes, / The poore aduanc'd, makes friends of enemies, / And hetherto doth loue on fortune tend, / For vvho not needes, ſhall neuer lacke a friend, / And vvho in vvant a hollovv friend doth try, / Directly ſeaſons him his enemy.
- "Really, Mr. Collins," cried Elizabeth with some warmth, "you puzzle me exceedingly. If what I have hitherto said can appear to you in the form of encouragement, I know not how to express my refusal in such a way as to convince you of its being one."
- 4
obsoleteSynonym of hereto (“regarding this subject; to achieve this result; to this end”).
- And the eſpeciall intent of this meeting is, to receive our Biſhops directions for the adminiſtration of the Sacraments and Preaching, as his Articles informe us. Hitherto, if I can but hold me by my text, I hope not to fall into impertinencies.
hithertoadj/ˌhɪðəˈtuː/
- 1
archaicExisting or occurring before now; former, preceding, previous.
- At the same time, then, that the categorical imperative can enjoin nothing without liability to exception but disinterested obedience to itself, it will have no lack of definite content. The particular duties which it enjoins will at least be all those in the practice of which, according to the hitherto experience of men, some progress is made towards the fulfilment of man's capabilities, or some condition necessary to that progress is satisfied.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。