hitherto
Americanadverb
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up to this time; until now.
a fact hitherto unknown.
-
to here.
adverb
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until this time
hitherto, there have been no problems
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archaic to this place or point
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hitherto
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English hiderto; see hither, to
Explanation
Use the adverb hitherto when you're describing a state or circumstance that existed up until now. If you find a hitherto undiscovered hidden tunnel in your cellar, you're the first to discover it. When some particular situation has existed so far, up until the moment that you're speaking of, you can use the word hitherto to talk about it. You could say that you're taking a hot air balloon ride that you were hitherto too scared to contemplate, or that a very shy girl in your philosophy class who was hitherto totally silent finally spoke up today and asked a very intelligent question.
Vocabulary lists containing hitherto
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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Sapiens
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hitherto, the party had never won more than 10% of the vote in a parliamentary by-election, a figure they reached in the Somerton and Frome by-election in 2023.
From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026
Hitherto, no specimen of anthropoid primates had been discovered in America.”
From Scientific American • Apr. 1, 2023
Hitherto unknown companies surfaced this year as major buyers of Venezuelan crude, Reuters reported in November.
From Reuters • Dec. 29, 2020
Hitherto, norms and conventions have limited its use outside of Quebec.
From The Guardian • Nov. 18, 2018
Hitherto, all that has been known of Grindelwald’s next movements is that he “traveled abroad for some months.”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
