hitherto
- 01 C1 Advanced
until now or until the time you are talking about.
up to this time; until now or until the point in time mentioned. Often used in academic or legal contexts to describe a change in status.
Simple“The company decided to release information that had hitherto been kept secret.”
In context“The discovery of these documents shed light on a period of history that had hitherto been poorly understood by scholars.”
UsageTypically placed before the adjective or past participle it modifies, or at the end of a clause.
SynonymsAntonyms
“A closing monologue about attention to detail strives for a significance the show has not hitherto possessed.”
“On came Diarra and Isidor for the hitherto largely ineffective Nilson Angulo and Brian Brobbey.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.