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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

to a T en · ADP

Pronunciation

Etymology

The origins of this phrase are uncertain, but it has been observed in print since at least 1693, and likely was around well before that. The possibly related phrase to a tittle is found in a 1607 play, The Woman Hater by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher ("I'll quote him to a tittle"). The T in the phrase to a T is likely the first letter of a word, with tittle being the most likely source. * Other theories with little evidence point to golf tees, for their small size; this may have at least influenced the alternative form to a tee. Some speculate a relationship with T-square, a measuring device introduced around the turn of the century. Others claim the expression refers to the correct completion of the letter t by crossing it. *In print from "Two Years Before the Mast" published in 1840, and, even then, using quotes, refers to the practice of squaring up a yardarm with a mast on a sailing ship such that it made a perpendicular T.

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Precisely; exactly; perfectly; with great attention to detail.
    • I hope your Honour will be soon well enough to get down to your country-seat, where,—as your Honour takes so much pleasure in fortification, we could manage this matter to a T. 1759–1767, [Laurence Sterne], The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume (please specify |volume=I to IX), London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […]:
    • That accounts for my having the dress, but it don't account for the piece that you left sticking to the rose-bush under Mrs. Lander's bed-room winder, which piece I took off that morning, and which piece I matched with the dress after you pitched it at me over them bannisters; it was an awful scragly tear, and it fitted to a T. 1868, Ann Sophia Stephens, Doubly False:
    • My ſpurrit to a T—My dear child! 1766, George Colman, David Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage, a Comedy. […], London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […]; R[oberts] Baldwin, […]; R. Davis, […]; and T[homas] Davies, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene ii, page 49:
    • The announcement of the political endorsement was timed to a T.
    • You see I'm six foot one and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a tee 1979, “Rapper’s Delight”, performed by Sugarhill Gang:
    • You've sure got everything figured out to a "T", boss! 1964, "On the Trail of the Amazing Spider-Man!" (page 7), Tales to Astonish #57, Marvel Comics

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
to the T alternative, idiomatic lexicographic
to a "T" alternative lexicographic
to a tee alternative lexicographic
down to a T alternative, emphatic lexicographic

Translations (18)

fr à la perfection (precisely; exactly) · sv på pricken (precisely; exactly) · pl co do joty (precisely; exactly) · cmn 恰恰好 (precisely; exactly) · pl na tip-top (precisely; exactly) · ga go cruinn beacht (precisely; exactly) · fi tismalleen (precisely; exactly) · es fielmente (precisely; exactly) · cs do puntíku (precisely; exactly) · cy i'r dim (precisely; exactly) · cmn 絲毫不差 /丝毫不差 (precisely; exactly) · fi pilkulleen (precisely; exactly) · ru в соверше́нстве (precisely; exactly) · fr à merveille (precisely; exactly) · cmn 不折不扣 (precisely; exactly) · de auf den Punkt gebracht (precisely; exactly) · sv till punkt och pricka (precisely; exactly) · ru кома́р но́са не подто́чит (precisely; exactly)

wikipedia: Francis Beaumont · wikipedia: The Woman Hater