Alexander Schmidt, Shakespeare Lexicon and Quotation Dictionary

To, prepos. 1) Denoting motion towards a place or a state, f. i.: “hasteth to his horse,” Ven. 258. “to her straight goes he,” Ven. 258 “she came stealing to the wayward boy,” Ven. 258 “the sheep are gone to fold, birds to their nest,” Ven. 258 “fall to the earth,” Ven. 258 “driven to doubt,” Ven. 258 “the path . . . leadeth on to danger,” Ven. 258 “love to heaven is fled,” Ven. 258 “she hasteth to a myrtle grove,” Ven. 258 “she coasteth to the cry,” Ven. 258 “clapping their tails to the ground,” Ven. 258 “holding their course to Paphos,” Ven. 258 they all posted to Rome, Lucr. Arg. Ven. 258 “departed to the camp,” Ven. 258 “to cabin!” Tp. I, 1, 18. “off to sea again,” Tp. I, 1, 18 “the teen I have turned you to,” I, 2, 64. “brought to this shore,” I, 2, 64 “I shall no more to sea,” II, 2, 44. “to Milan let me hear from thee,” Gent. I, 1, 57 (later Ff at). “must I go to him?” III, 1, 386. “welcome to Milan,” II, 5, 1 (cf. Welcome). “come to me soon at night,” Wiv. II, 2, 295. “bring me to the sight of Isabella,” Meas. I, 4, 18. “I shall beat you to your tent,” II, 1, 262. “go you to Angelo,” III, 1, 253. “first go with me to church, . . . and then away to Venice to your friend,” Merch. III, 2, 305. Merch. III, 2, 305 “I part with him to one that I would have . . . .,” II, 5, 50. “take her to thee,” As III, 5, 63. “to him will I,” V, 4, 190. “take it to you,” Shr. IV, 1, 168. “bid him repair to us to Ely House,” R2 II, 1, 216. “I see thy glory fall to the base earth,” II, 4, 20. “to shoot me to the heart,” H6A I, 4, 56. “stoop to the block,” H6B IV, 1, 125. “a cockatrice hast thou hatched to the world,” R3 IV, 1, 55. “came to the bar,” H8 II, 1, 12. “when the planets to disorder wander,” Troil. I, 3, 95. “to him!” Cor. I, 5, 10. “go you to the senators,” Tim. II, 2, 205. “take it to heart,” Hml. I, 2, 101. “hell itself breathes out contagion to this world,” III, 2, 408. “to hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!” IV, 5, 131. “I am cut to the brains,” Lr. IV, 6, 197. “sold to slavery,” Oth. I, 3, 138. “'tis easy to't,” Ant. III, 10, 32 (i. e. to go there). “shall uplift us to the view,” V, 2, 211. “he takes the babe to his protection,” Cymb. I, 1, 41. “she'll home to her father,” III, 2, 77. “if you'll back to the court,” III, 4, 133.
2) Denoting motion towards a work to be done or a question to be treated: “Adonis hied him to the chase,” Ven. 3. “I'll bring thee to the present business,” Tp. I, 2, 136. to thy strong bidding task Ariel, 192 (cf. task). “I'll to my book,” III, 1, 94. “to prayers!” I, 1, 54. “only to the plain form of marriage,” Ado IV, 1, 1. “but to the place where,” LLL I, 1, 247. “so to your pleasures!” As V, 4, 198. “now to your younger daughter,” Shr. II, 334. “once more to this Captain Dumain,” All's IV, 3, 276. “but to your protestation,” Wint. IV, 4, 379. “to work!” John II, 37. “now to our French causes,” H5 II, 2, 60. “now, sir, to you,” H6A III, 4, 28. “then to breakfast,” H8 III, 2, 202. “but to the sport abroad,” Troil. I, 1, 118. “to our sport!” Tit. II, 2, 19. “to our work alive,” Caes. IV, 3, 196. “beware of entrance to a quarrel,” Hml. I, 3, 66. “now to you,” Lr. III, 1, 34 etc. etc. Often to it == to work: “fall to't,” Tp. I, 1, 3. “they will to't then,” Meas. II, 1, 246; in an obscene sense; cf. IV, 3, 161 and Lr. IV, 6, 119 (cf. besides Go). “to't they go like lightning,” Rom. III, 1, 177. we shall to't presently (i. e. to dinner) Tim. III, 6, 38. “we'll e'en to't like French falconers,” Hml. II, 2, 449. to it, absolutely and imperatively: Gent. II, 7, 89. IV, 2, 25. Shr. I, 2, 195. All's III, 6, 67. Tw. III, 4, 340. H4A I, 3, 257. II, 4, 275. V, 4, 75. H6C II, 1, 165. V, 4, 72. Tit. IV, 3, 58. Lr. IV, 6, 119. Hml. V, 1, 56. Oth. III, 1, 17 etc. Similarly with designations of persons: “as he fell to her, so fell she to him,” Pilgr. 146 (as he assailed her, took hold of her). “to her, boy,” Wiv. I, 3, 61 (assail her, make at her). “to her, coz,” III, 4, 36. Meas. II, 2, 43. Meas. II, 2, 43 Meas. II, 2, 43 Merch. II, 2, 119. Shr. V, 2, 33. Tw. IV, 2, 20. Troil. III, 3, 274. Ant. III, 11, 25 etc.
3) Denoting a point or limit reached in space, time, or degree, == as far as; till; no less than; not even excepted: “the turtle's loyal breast to eternity doth rest,” Phoen. 58. “the sea mounting to the welkin's cheek,” Tp. I, 2, 4. “performed to point the tempest,” I, 2, 194; cf. to every article, 195; to the syllable, 500; “even to the utmost syllable of your worthiness,” All's III, 6, 74; “to a hair,” Troil. III, 1, 157. “struck to the quick,” Tp. V, 25. “punish them to your height of pleasure,” Meas. V, 240. “Time . . . to the world's end will have bald followers.” Err. II, 2, 108. “from the hour of my nativity to this in stant,” IV, 4, 31. “she would infect to the north star,” Ado II, 1, 258. “command me any service to the world's end,” Ado II, 1, 258 “being two hours to day,” Merch. V, 303. “I'll pull off all my raiment, to my petticoat,” Shr. II, 5. “from below your duke to beneath your constable,” All's II, 2, 32. “to the possibility of thy soldiership, I will subscribe for thee,” III, 6, 88. “'tis long to night,” Tw. III, 3, 21. “incensed against you, even to a mortal arbitrement,” III, 4, 286. “to be her advocate to the loudest,” Wint. II, 2, 39. “since the birth of Cain . . . to him that did but yesterday suspire,” John III, 4, 80. “like the watchful minutes to the hour,” IV, 1, 46 (cf. hour). “to the furthest verge,” R2 I, 1, 93. “as low as to thy heart,” R2 I, 1, 93 “pierced to the soul” R2 I, 1, 93 “up to the ears in blood,” H4A IV, 1, 117. “what may the king's whole battle reach unto? To thirty thousand,” H4A IV, 1, 117 “we ready are to try our fortunes to the last man,” H4B IV, 2, 44. “Mars his true moving . . . to this day is not known,” H6A I, 2, 2. “all I have, to the last penny,” H8 III, 2, 453. “I was a chaste wife to my grave,” IV, 2, 170. “they came to the broomstaff to me,” V, 4, 57. “knows the youth even to his inches,” Troil. IV, 5, 111. “applaud it to the clouds,” Hml. IV, 5, 107. “invades us to the skin,” Lr. III, 4, 7. “he cried almost to roaring,” Ant. III, 2, 55. “round even to faultiness,” III, 3, 33. “divide our equalness to this,” V, 1, 48. “how far it is to this same blessed Milford,” Cymb. III, 2, 61. “skipped from sixteen years of age to sixty,” IV, 2, 199. “her stature to an inch,” Per. V, 1, 110. credit thy relation to points that seem impossible, 125 etc. etc.
Hence signifying a result or effect produced; f. i.: “dashed to pieces,” Tp. I, 2, 8 (cf. tear to pieces, cut to pieces etc. sub Piece). “I shall laugh myself to death,” II, 2, 158. “bite him to death,” III, 2, 38. “attached with weariness to the dulling of my spirits,” III, 3, 6. “I will plague them even to roaring,” IV, 193. “dissolves to water,” Gent. III, 2, 8. “I shall have law in Ephesus, to your notorious shame,” Err. IV, 1, 84; Ado V, 1, 248; LLL V, 2, 358; Cor. IV, 5, 106. “if he love me to madness,” Merch. I, 2, 69. “to the world's pleasure,” All's II, 4, 37. “to the full arming of the verity,” IV, 3, 72. “I find it, and that to the infection of my brains,” Wint. I, 2, 145. “then shall this hand and seal witness against us to damnation,” John IV, 2, 218. “to our heart's great sorrow,” H6C I, 1, 128. “spread they shall be to thy foul disgrace,” H6C I, 1, 128 “and in devotion spend my latter days, to sin's rebuke and my Creator's praise,” IV, 6, 44. “what may befall him, to his harm and ours,” IV, 6, 44 “to our grief,” R3 III, 1, 98. “God hold it, to your honour's good content,” III, 2, 107. “they shall breed selves of themselves, to our recomforture,” IV, 4, 425. “to the mere undoing of all the kingdom,” H8 III, 2, 329. “God safely quit her of her burthen . . . to the gladding of your highness,” V, 1, 71. “she shall be, to the happiness of England, an aged princess,” V, 5, 57. “of whom, even to the state's best health, I have deserved this hearing,” Tim. II, 2, 206. this embalms and spices (her) “to the April day again,” IV, 3, 41. “to all our lamentation,” Cor. IV, 6, 34. “worthy to be a rebel, for to that the multiplying villanies of nature do swarm upon him,” Mcb. I, 2, 10 (== to that effect). to the amazement of “mine eyes,” II, 4, 19. “the moist star . . . was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse,” Hml. I, 1, 120. “did your letters pierce the queen to any demonstration of grief?” Lr. IV, 3, 11. “I am hurt to danger,” Oth. II, 3, 197. “to your so infinite loss,” Cymb. I, 1, 120. “make her go back, even to the yielding,” 1, 4, 1, 4 “this will witness . . . to the madding of her lord,” II, 2, 37. “love's counsellor should fill the bores of hearing to the smothering of the sense,” III, 2, 60. “that we have taken no care to your best courses,” Per. IV, 1, 39. cf. to laugh to scorn; to chance, to turn, and similar verbs.
4) Denoting direction, tendency and application: “her eyes petitioners to his eyes suing,” Ven. 356; “the suit I made to thee,” Tp. III, 2, 45; “that's my business to you,” III, 3, 69. “I am an humble suitor to your virtues,” Tim. III, 5, 7; “my business is to the king. What advocate hast thou to him?” Wint. IV, 4, 765; tell me what you have to the king, 824; “to give me your good report to the prince,” V, 2, 162; “do my service to his majesty,” H8 III, 1, 179; “I have business to my lord,” Troil. III, 1, 63. “my love to thee,” Ven. 442; Gent. II, 6, 28; III, 2, 48; “my hate to Marcius,” Cor. I, 10, 24; Tim. IV, 1, 40; “my good will is to it,” Tp. III, 1, 30; “his appetite is more to bread than stone,” Meas. I, 3, 53; “to feel my affection to your honour,” Lr. I, 2, 94; “my zeal to Valentine is cold,” Gent. II, 4, 203; “have respect to mine honour,” Caes. III, 2, 15; “let mild women to him lose their mildness,” Lucr. 979; “treachery used to Valentine,” Gent. II, 6, 32; “arms her with the boldness of a wife to her allowing husband,” Wint. I, 2, 185. “look well to her heart,” Ven. 580; mine ears that to your wanton talk attended, 809; “treason can but peep to what it would,” Hml. IV, 5, 124 (cf. the verbs to hearken, to listen etc.). “applying this to that,” Ven. 713; “if I had self-applied love to myself,” Compl. 77; “gold that's put to use,” Ven. 768; “and to him put the manage of my state,” Tp. I, 2, 69. “he puts transgression to't,” Meas. III, 2, 101. “to cry to the sea that roared to us,” Tp. I, 2, 149; “then to Silvia let us sing,” Gent. IV, 2, 49; “clamorous to the frighted fields,” H4A III, 1, 40; “to whom by oath he menaced revenge upon the cardinal,” H8 I, 2, 137; “few words to fair faith,” Troil. III, 2, 103 (cf. the verbs to say, to speak, to talk, to write etc.). “inclined to sleep,” Tp. I, 2, 185; “hath no stomach to this fight,” H5 IV, 3, 35; “he was disposed to mirth,” Ant. I, 2, 86; “to inure thyself to what thou art like to be,” Tw. II, 5, 160; “unused to the melting mood,” Oth. V, 2, 349. “you were kneeled to,” Tp. II, 1, 128; II, 2, 123; “your knees to them, not arms, must help,” Cor. I, 1, 76; “off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench,” R2 I, 4, 31; “bow to any,” H6B IV, 1, 125; “bowed her to the people,” H8 IV, 1, 85; “bending to your state,” Oth. I, 3, 236. “doth mistake in her gifts to women,” As I, 2, 38; “by thy help to this distressed queen,” H6C III, 3, 213. “is't possible that my deserts to you can lack persuasion?” Tw. III, 4, 382; H6B I, 4, 50; Tit. I, 24. “command me any service to her thither,” LLL V, 2, 312; “be eloquent in my behalf to her,” R3 IV, 4, 357; “what wouldst thou have to Athens?” Tim. IV, 3, 287 (cf. I would to God, sub Will); “if you'll employ me to him,” Ant. V, 2, 70. “no man hath any quarrel to me,” Tw. III, 4, 248; Ado II, 1, 244; Cor. IV, 5, 133; cf. “the king does whet his anger to him,” H8 III, 2, 92. “the phrase is to the matter,” Meas. V, 90; “speak to the business,” H8 V, 3, 1; “that's to't indeed,” Troil. III, 1, 32; “to prove upon thy heart whereto I speak, thou liest,” Lr. V, 3, 140. “no thought . . . save those to God,” H5 I, 2, 303; “my integrity to heaven,” H8 III, 2, 454; “'tis a fault to heaven,” Hml. I, 2, 101; “I hold my duty, as I hold my soul, both to my God and to my gracious king,” II, 2, 45; “the assault you have made to her chastity,” Cymb. I, 4, 175. “bending his sword to his master,” Lr. IV, 2, 75.
Hence denoting destination, aim, design and purpose (almost == for): “called him all to naught,” Ven. 993. “tutor both to good and bad,” Lucr. 995. “that to my use it might unused stay,” Sonn. 48, 3. “one midnight fated to the purpose,” Tp. I, 2, 129. “swear to that,” II, 2, 145. “destined to a drier death,” Gent. I, 1, 158. “pray her to a fault for which I chid her,” 1, 2, 1, 2 “would not force the letter to my view,” 1, 2 “lay their swords to pawn,” Wiv. III, 1, 113. “spirits are not finely touched but to fine issues,” Meas. I, 1, 37. “strip myself to death,” II, 4, 102. “prepare yourself to death,” III, 1, 169. “the beggary he was never born to,” III, 2, 100. “that you are thus bound to your answer,” Ado V, 1, 233. “let me go no farther to mine answer,” Ado V, 1, 233 “wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?” Mids. II, 2, 123. “I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh . . . to my bloody creditor,” Merch. III, 3, 34. to good wine they do use good bushes, As Epil. Merch. III, 3, 34 “I have a hundred milch-kine to the pail,” Shr. II, 359. “naturally born to fears,” John III, 1, 15. “arm you to the sudden time,” John V, 6, 26. “well sinewed to our defence,” V, 7, 88. “to this we swore our aid,” H4A V, 1, 46. doth offer him . . . with her to dowry some petty dukedoms, H5 III, Chor. H4A V, 1, 46 “give signal to the fight,” H6C V, 4, 72. “he is franked up to fatting,” R3 I, 3, 314. “fashioned to much honour,” H8 IV, 2, 50. “follow to thine answer,” Cor. III, 1, 177. “to this your son is marked,” Tit. I, 125. “a pig prepared to the spit,” IV, 2, 146. “pawn me to this your honour,” Tim. I, 1, 147. “you have my voice to it,” III, 5, 1. “disbursed ten thousand dollars to our general use,” Mcb. I, 2, 62. “giving to you no further personal power to business with the king,” Hml. I, 2, 37. “a command to parley,” Hml. I, 3, 123. “I am native here and to the manner born,” I, 4, 15. “arm you to this speedy voyage,” III, 3, 24. “do but blow them to their trial,” V, 2, 202. “hath had three suits to his back,” Lr. III, 4, 141. “sounds a parley to provocation,” Oth. II, 3, 23 (Qq. of). “is it not an alarum to love?” Oth. II, 3, 23 “a special purpose, which wrought to his desire,” V, 2, 323 etc. etc. (cf. to boot sub Boot).
Hence == in the quality of, as, for: “Tunis was never graced before with such a paragon to their queen,” Tp. II, 1, 75. “Destiny, that hath to instrument this lower world,” III, 3, 54. “therefore would I have thee to my tutor,” Gentl. III, 1, 84. “have a woman to your lord,” As V, 4, 140. “for my thoughts, you have them ill to friend,” All's V, 3, 182. Caes. III, 1, 143. Mcb. IV, 3, 10. Cymb. I, 4, 116. “I have a king here to my flatterer,” R2 IV, 308. “I had rather have my horse to my mistress,” H5 III, 7, 62. H5 III, 7, 62 “this fellow had a Volscian to his mother,” Cor. V, 3, 178. “has a fool to his servant,” Tim. II, 2, 103. “a yeoman that has a gentleman to his son,” Lr. III, 6, 14. “to have to wife:” As IV, 1, 130. Shr. II, 121. Shr. II, 121 “having an honest man to your husband,” Wiv. III, 3, 107. IV, 2, 137. “to take to wife:” Caes. II, 1, 293. Hml. I, 2, 14. Ant. II, 2, 130. “to crave to wife:” H6C III, 1, 31. cf. “thou shalt have more than two tens to a score,” Lr. I, 4, 140.
5) Denoting addition: “rain added to a river,” Ven. 71. Ven. 71 “foretel new storms to those already spent,” Lucr. 1589 (== besides). if I had his (shape) . . ., “and, to his shape, were heir to all this land,” John I, 144. a greater gift! O that's the sword to it (the dagger) R3 III, 1, 116. the Greeks are strong and skilful to their “strength, fierce to their skill, and to their fierceness valiant,” Troil. I, 1, 7. “where he hath won a name to Caius Marcius,” Cor. II, 1, 181. “seek happy nights to happy days,” Rom. I, 3, 106. those (honours) “of old, and the late dignities heaped up to them,” Mcb. I, 6, 19. “and to that dauntless temper . . . he hath a wisdom . . .,” III, 1, 52. “to the felt absence now I feel a cause,” Oth. III, 4, 182. “to them the legions garrisoned in Gallia . . . have crossed the sea,” Cymb. IV, 2, 333. Lr. IV, 1, 40?
6) Denoting junction: “rein his proud head to the saddle-bow,” Ven. 14. “tied to the tree,” Ven. 14 “face grows to face,” Ven. 14 “his grief may be compared well to one sore sick,” Ven. 14 Ven. 14 “bound him to her breast,” Ven. 14 “his breath and beauty set gloss on the rose, smell to the violet,” Ven. 14 “put fear to valour, courage to the coward,” Ven. 14 “kings might be espoused to more fame,” Lucr. 20. “do not marry me to yond fool,” Wiv. III, 4, 87. “thy thoughts I cleave to,” Tp. IV, 165. “my very lips might freeze to my teeth,” Shr. IV, 1, 7. “as if she would pin her to her heart,” Wint. V, 2, 84. “false blood to false blood joined,” John III, 1, 2. “have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow joined,” R2 II, 2, 66. “grow to the ground,” V, 3, 106. “thy son's blood cleaving to my blade,” H6C I, 3, 50. what lies heavy to't (the heart) Cor. IV, 2, 48; cf. “this gentle and unforced accord of Hamlet sits smiling to my heart,” Hml. I, 2, 124. “to-night she's mewed up to her heaviness,” Rom. III, 4, 11 (== together with); cf. “confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears,” Mcb. III, 4, 25. “hold thee to my heart,” I, 4, 32. “screwed to my memory,” Cymb. II, 2, 44. (an air) “with rich words to it,” II, 3, 20. “thou hast stuck to the bare fortune of that beggar Posthumus,” III, 5, 119. “this fierce abridgment hath to it circumstantial branches,” V, 5, 383 etc. etc.
Hence to be to == to belong to (cf. Be); to stand to == to side with, or to persist in (cf. Stand).
Nearly related is its use in comparisons, == in comparison of: “thou, to whom my jewels trifles are,” Sonn. 48, 5. “to the most of men this is a Caliban, and they to him are angels,” Tp. I, 2, 480. “who in this kind of fooling am nothing to you,” II, 1, 178. there is no woe to his (Love's) “correction, nor to his service no such joy on earth,” Gent. II, 4, 138. “all I can is nothing to her whose worth makes other worthies nothing,” Gent. II, 4, 138 “any madness I ever beheld seemed but tameness to this his distemper,” Wiv. IV, 2, 28. “the weariest life . . . is a paradise to what we fear of death,” Meas. III, 1, 132. “I to the world am like a drop of water,” Err. I, 2, 35. “he is then a giant to an ape, but then is an ape a doctor to such a man,” Ado V, 1, 205. LLL II, 63. As III, 2, 98. Shr. III, 2, 159. All's II, 3, 300. All's II, 3, 300 III, 5, 62. Wint. IV, 1, 15. H4A III, 3, 130. H4B IV, 3, 56. H6A III, 2, 25. H6B III, 1, 64. IV, 10, 51. Troil. I, 2, 259. Cor. II, 1, 128. Tit. V, 1, 90. Rom. II, 4, 41. III, 5, 221. Mcb. III, 4, 64. Hml. I, 2, 140. I, 5, 52. III, 1, 52. Oth. II, 3, 81. Ant. III, 12, 8. Cymb. III, 2, 10. III, 3, 26.
Hence, in general, denoting opposition and contrast: “Saint Denis to Saint Cupid! what are they that charge their breath against us?” LLL V, 2, 87. “set'st oath to oath, thy tongue against thy tongue,” John III, 1, 264. “face to face, and frowning brow to brow,” R2 I, 1, 15. H8 V, 3, 47. “will I make good against thee, arm to arm,” R2 I, 1, 76. “one half-penny worth of bread to this intolerable deal of sack,” H4A II, 4, 592. “Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse, meet and ne'er part,” IV, 1, 122. “blue coats to tawny coats,” H6A I, 3, 47. “set limb to limb, and thou art far the lesser,” H6B IV, 10, 50. “match to match I have encountered him,” V, 2, 10. “will you set your wit to a fool's?” Troil. II, 1, 94. “were half to half the world by the ears,” Cor. I, 1, 237. “if e'er again I meet him beard to beard,” I, 10, 11. “true sword to sword,” I, 10, 11 III, 1, 13. “dares me to personal combat, Caesar to Antony,” Ant. IV, 1, 4. Numbers thus opposed: “we have ten proofs to one that blood hath the victory,” Ado II, 3, 171. “there's five to one; besides, they all are fresh,” H5 IV, 3, 4. H6A I, 2, 34. IV, 1, 21. H6C I, 2, 72. H6C I, 2, 72 I, 4, 60. Used in betting: “my hat to a half-penny, Pompey proves the best Worthy,” LLL V, 2, 563. “for heaven to earth, some of us never shall a second time do such a courtesy,” H4A V, 2, 100. “to win her, all the world to nothing,” R3 I, 2, 238. Rom. III, 5, 215. “my dukedom to a beggarly denier,” R3 I, 2, 252. “my horse to yours,” Cor. I, 4, 2. “it is lots to blanks,” V, 2, 10. “his cocks win the battle . . . when it is all to naught,” Ant. II, 3, 37. “I pawn the moiety of my estate to your ring,” Cymb. I, 4, 119. “I will lay you ten thousand ducats to your ring,” Cymb. I, 4, 119 “I will wage against your gold, gold to it,” Cymb. I, 4, 119 “twenty to one then he is shipped already,” Gent. I, 1, 72. “'tis ten to one it maimed you,” Shr. V, 2, 62. Ado III, 3, 84. Tw. I, 3, 113. H4B I, 1, 182. H6A V, 4, 157. H6B II, 1, 4. H6C V, 1, 46. H8 Epil. H6C V, 1, 46
Contrariety implied also in the phrases: to one's eyes, to one's face, to one's teeth, == in presence and defiance of: “her shall you hear disproved to her eyes,” Meas. V, 161. “even to the eyes of Richard gave him defiance,” H4B III, 1, 64. “to see your wives dishonoured to your noses,” Cor. IV, 6, 83. that I shall live and tell him to his teeth 'Thus didest thou', Hml. IV, 7, 57. “being spoke . . . to your face,” Rom. IV, 1, 28. Rom. IV, 1, 28 “weepest thou for him to my face?” Oth. V, 2, 77.
7) Denoting measure and proportion: “task me to the word,” H4A IV, 1, 9. “construe the times to their necessities,” H4B IV, 1, 104. “made us pay one shilling to the pound,” H6B IV, 7, 25. “that to the pace of it I may spur on my journey,” Cor. I, 10, 32.
Hence == according to, in congruity or harmony with: “just to the time,” Sonn. 109, 7. “even to my wish,” Wiv. IV, 6, 12. “pinch him to your time,” V, 5, 96. “set all hearts to what tune pleased his ear,” Tp. I, 2, 85. “that I might sing it to a tune,” Gent. I, 2, 80. “fashion your demeanour to my looks,” Err. II, 2, 33. “what we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it,” Ado IV, 1, 220. “my lady, to the manner of the days, in courtesy gives undeserving praise,” LLL V, 2, 365. “love and simplicity in least speak most, to my capacity,” Mids. V, 105. “fortune now to my heart's hope!” Merch. II, 9, 20. “you to his love must accord,” As V, 4, 139. “according to the fashion and the time,” Shr. IV, 3, 95. “I did not bid you mar it to the time,” Shr. IV, 3, 95 “if it be aught to the old tune,” Tw. V, 111. “here's one to a very doleful tune,” Wint. IV, 4, 265. “I will prove so to my power,” V, 2, 182. to my thinking (== in my opinion) H4B V, 5, 114. “I never did her any, to my knowledge,” R3 I, 3, 309. “as loud, and to as many tunes,” H8 IV, 1, 73. “when I am hence, I'll answer to my lust,” Troil. IV, 4, 134. “to her own worth she shall be prized,” Troil. IV, 4, 134 “a soldier even to Cato's wish,” Cor. I, 4, 57. “that to his power he would have made them mules,” II, 1, 262 (as far as it lay in his power). “to my poor unworthy notice, he mocked us,” II, 3, 166. “remedied to your public laws,” Tim. V, 4, 62 (M. Edd. rendered to). “to my thinking,” Caes. I, 2, 240. “went it not so? To the selfsame tune and words,” Mcb. I, 3, 88. he “delivers our offices . . . to the direction just,” III, 3, 4. to my mind (== in my opinion) Hml. I, 4, 14. “to my judgement,” Lr. I, 4, 62. “they wear their faces to the bent of the king's looks,” Cymb. I, 1, 13. welcomed and settled to his own desire, Per. IV Prol. 2. “when he shall come and find our paragon to all reports thus blasted,” IV, 1, 36 etc.
Similarly denoting correspondency and simultaneousness (cf. to-day, to-night): “to jig off a tune at the tongue's end, canary to it with your feet,” LLL III, 12. “to dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,” Mids. II, 1, 86 (cf. “to cry to the sea that roared to us,” Tp. I, 2, 149, i. e. to cry to the roaring of the sea, which roared to our cries). “sung to the harp,” V, 45. “sung to her lute,” H4A III, 1, 211. “to his music plants and flowers ever sprung,” H8 III, 1, 6. she dances to her lays, Per. V, Prol. H8 III, 1, 6 cf. “if it be summer news, smile to't before,” Cymb. III, 4, 13. “he went to bed to her very description,” Per. IV, 2, 109. Cor. IV, 5, 209.
8) Denoting relation, == concerning, as to (or more properly: on occasion of, on starting the question): “to make you answer truly to your name,” Ado IV, 1, 80 (i. e. concerning the appellation which you deserve); “once more to this Captain Dumain: you have answered to his reputation with the duke and to his valour: what is his honesty?” All's IV, 3, 277; “where we may leisurely each one demand and answer to his part performed in this wide gap of time,” Wint. V, 3, 153. “what's this to my Lysander? where is he?” Mids. III, 2, 62 (== what has this to do with etc.). “he shall be none; we'll keep him here: then what is that to him?” R2 V, 2, 100. “where to his accusations he pleaded still not guilty,” H8 II, 1, 12. “Hector is not Troilus in some degrees. 'Tis just to each of them; he is himself,” Troil. I, 2, 75. “few words, but, to effect, more than all yet,” Lr. III, 1, 52. “though I am bound to every act of duty, I am not bound to that all slaves are free to,” Oth. III, 3, 135 (concerning which all slaves are free. Ff all slaves are free, without to). what say you to == what do you think about: “what sayst thou to this?” R2 I, 1, 110. “what shall be said to thee?” Oth. V, 2, 293 (cf. Say). “my love to your proceeding bids me tell you this,” Caes. II, 2, 103 (on occasion of, concerning, your proceeding). guilty to, originally == guilty concerning sth., and then == guilty of, see sub Guilty.
9) Supplying, in an infinity of cases, the place of the dative of other languages; as dativus commodi et incommodi: “stain to all nymphs,” Ven. 9. “to a pretty ear she tunes her tale,” Ven. 9 “things growing to themselves are growth's abuse,” Ven. 9 “what banquet wert thou to the taste,” Ven. 9 “wreck to the seaman,” Ven. 9 “thy beauty hath ensnared thee to this night,” Lucr. 485. “die to themselves,” Sonn. 54, 11. “I to all the world must die,” 81, 6. “the summer's flower is to the summer sweet, though to itself it only live and die;” 94, 9. 94, 9 Meas. I, 3, 28. LLL I, 1, 31. Cymb. III, 4, 133. “fresh to myself,” Compl. 76. “drink to me,” Tp. III, 2, 4 (cf. Drink); “here's to my love,” Rom. V, 3, 119. “this will prove a brave kingdom to me,” Tp. III, 2, 153. Meas. II, 1, 263. “that's more to me than my wetting,” Tp. IV, 211. “what's that to you?” Shr. II, 305. IV, 1, 72. John V, 2, 92. V, 6, 4. Lr. III, 4, 7. Oth. III, 3, 315. Ant. II, 2, 36. “make me fear misfortune to my ventures,” Merch. I, 1, 21. more (joy) “than to us wait in your royal walks,” Mids. V, 30. “my heart to her but as guest-wise sojourned,” III, 2, 171. “this is a dear manakin to you,” Tw. III, 2, 57. “the queen is spotless in the eyes of heaven and to you,” Wint. II, 1, 132. “hath made us by-words to our enemies,” H6C I, 1, 42. “for his trial and fair purgation to the world,” H8 V, 3, 152. “your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather,” Hml. II, 2, 306. “ere I could make a prologue to my brains, they had begun the play,” V, 2, 30 etc. etc.
Denoting, after substantives, the state of being appertinent, == of: “the bawd to lust's abuse,” Ven. 792. “true leaders to their queen,” Ven. 792 “thou lackey to eternity,” Lucr. 967. “my reason, the physician to my love,” Sonn. 147, 5. “being an enemy to me inveterate,” Tp. I, 2, 122. “rich scarf to my proud earth,” IV, 82. “the best comforter to an unsettled fancy,” V, 59. “she is daughter to this duke,” V, 192. “to be my fellow-servant to your ladyship,” Gent. II, 4, 105. “slaves they are to me,” III, 1, 141. “the fair sister to her unhappy brother Claudio,” Meas. I, 4, 20. “I am confessor to Angelo,” III, 1, 168. “melancholy, kinsman to despair,” Err. V, 80. “foes to life,” Err. V, 80 “being a professed tyrant to their sex,” Ado I, 1, 170. “reason becomes the marshal to my will,” Mids. II, 2, 120. “though I am daughter to his blood, I am not to his manners,” Merch. II, 3, 18. “she is issue to a faithless Jew,” II, 4, 38. “son to some man else,” As I, 2, 236. “I am shepherd to another man,” II, 4, 78. “he was a brother to your daughter,” V, 4, 29. “they are bastards to the English,” All's II, 3, 100. “and be the supporter to a bench,” Tw. I, 5, 158. “this child was prisoner to the womb,” Wint. II, 2, 59 (never of after prisoner). “heir to all this land,” John I, 144. “the honourable father to my foe,” R2 I, 1, 136. “third son to the third Edward,” H6A II, 4, 84. “the third son to king Edward,” II, 5, 76. “a prophet to the fall of all our foes,” III, 2, 32. “as procurator to your excellence,” H6B I, 1, 3. “foe to the public weal,” Cor. III, 1, 176. Cor. III, 1, 176 “the grandchild to her blood,” V, 3, 24. “the cock that is the trumpet to the morn,” Hml. I, 1, 150. “my news shall be the fruit to that great feast,” II, 2, 52. “we still retain the name and all the additions to a king,” Lr. I, 1, 138. “I cannot speak any beginning to this peevish odds,” Oth. II, 3, 185 etc. etc.
Indicating, after adjectives, the person or thing, with respect to which, or in whose interest, a quality is shown or perceived (whereas, in general, of serves to designate the object or material, in or by which the quality shows itself; f. i. “she is too liberal of her tongue,” Gent. III, 1, 355, == she spends her tongue too liberally; “you are liberal of your loves,” H8 II, 1, 126; but “liberal to mine own children in good bringing up,” Shr. I, 1, 98; “free of speech,” Oth. III, 3, 185; “but free and bounteous to her mind,” I, 3, 266): “servile to my coy disdain,” Ven. 112. “to thine own face affected,” Ven. 112 “subject to the tyranny of mischances,” Ven. 112 contrary to the Roman laws, Lucr. Arg. Ven. 112 “correspondent to command,” Tp. I, 2, 297. “invisible to every eye-ball,” Tp. I, 2, 297 “my father's loss, the wreck of all my friends . . . are but light to me,” Tp. I, 2, 297 “I will be thankful to any happy messenger,” Gent. II, 4, 53. “constant to myself,” II, 6, 31 etc. etc. cf. accessary, advantageous, apparent, appertinent, attributive, auspicious etc. etc.
The same difference between the accusative and dative after verbs (the near and distant objects of grammarians): “mud not the fountain that gave drink to thee,” Lucr. 577. “left me to a bootless inquisition,” Tp. I, 2, 35. “subject his coronet to his crown,” Tp. I, 2, 35 “give a name to every fixed star,” LLL I, 1, 89 etc. etc. To omitted: “when dreams do show thee me,” Sonn. 43, 14 (== thee to me). “I'll yield him thee asleep,” Tp. III, 2, 68. did “bring them me,” Err. V, 385. “as God did give her me,” Ado IV, 1, 27. “seek to spill the poor deer's blood, that my heart means no ill,” LLL IV, 1, 35. “whose unwished yoke my soul consents not to give sovereignty,” Mids. I, 1, 81. “wilt thou give him me?” III, 2, 63. “happier the man, whom favourable stars allot thee for his lovely bedfellow,” Shr. IV, 5, 40. “those that vulgars give boldest titles,” Wint. II, 1, 94. he was a fool that taught them (manners) “me,” H4B II, 1, 205. “you will give them me,” H6B III, 1, 345. “I may ere night yield both my life and them to some man else, as this dead man doth me,” H6C II, 5, 60. “the law I bear no malice for my death,” H8 II, 1, 62. “a stirring dwarf we do allowance give before a sleeping giant,” Troil. II, 3, 146. “now play him me,” I, 3, 170. “you'll give him me,” III, 2, 113. “I give him you,” Tit. I, 102. “he hath left them you,” Caes. III, 2, 254. “the man that gave them thee,” Cymb. IV, 2, 85. cf. Apply. Of its omission, when the dative is placed before the accusative, every page offers instances.
Placed after the noun: “what to?” Rom. III, 1, 15. “my father did something smack, something grow to,” Merch. II, 2, 18. As for Wint. I, 2, 437: your followers I will whisper to the business, cf. Whisper.