for to

See also: forto

English

Etymology

From Middle English for to, equivalent to for +‎ to. Compare Scots for tae, Danish for at, Norwegian for å, Swedish för att.

Conjunction

for to

1. (obsolete outside dialect or poetic use) Elaboration of to.
   1. Expressing purpose: in order to.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 7:25:

        What went ye out for to see?

      • c. 1843, “Polly-Wolly-Doodl[e]”, in Hoyt Parmelee et al., compilers, A Collection of Songs and Ballads as Sung by Alpha Kappa Phi and Germanæ Sodales Societies, of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, Hillsdale, Mich.: Leader Steam Print, published 1885, →OCLC, page 11:

        Farewell! Farewell! / Farewell, my fairy fay! / Oh, I'm off to Louisiana / For to see my Susy Anna, / Singing, "Polly-wolly-doodle" all the day!

      • 1937, John Betjeman, The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel:

        “Mr. Woilde, we ‘ave come for tew take yew
        Where felons and criminals dwell:
        We must ask yew tew leave with us quoietly^[sic]
        For this is the Cadogan Hotel.”

      • 2004, Jackie Greene, “Honey I Been Thinking About You”, in Sweet Somewhere Bound:

        All that I need for to be satisfied is a woman who's nothing like me

   2. As a general infinitive marker.
      • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 10:

        It does me good fur to look at you, Pip.

      • 1971, Dewey Bunnell, “A Horse with No Name”, performed by America:

        In the desert you can remember your name, / 'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:for to.

References

• “for to”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• froot