desto

See also: destò

English

Etymology

Abbreviation of destination.

Noun

desto (plural destos)

1. (informal, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand) a headsign; a destination sign: a moveable or electronic display mounted on a bus or other public transport vehicle to indicate its intended route and destination.

   When you arrive at the terminus, remember to change your desto.

Anagrams

• doest, does't, tosed, todes, dotes

Danish

Conjunction

desto

1. the (forming the parallel comparative with jo)

   jo større den bliver, desto hårdere bliver den

   the larger it becomes, the harder it becomes

Synonyms

• des, jo

German

Etymology

From Old High German des diu, where des and diu are the genitive and instrumental case forms of Old High German daz n (“the; that, it”) respectively. Compare Dutch des te and English the ... the. Etymologically equivalent to des +‎ die.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛstoː/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Conjunction

desto

1. the (forming the parallel comparative with je)

   Synonym: umso

   Je mehr, desto besser! ― The more the better!

   Je eher, desto besser! ― The sooner the better!

2. (informal, proscribed) used instead of je in the je ... desto construction

   Desto mehr, desto besser ― The more the better

Derived terms

• nichtsdestoweniger, nichtsdestominder, nichtsdestotrotz

Descendants

• → Danish: desto
• → Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: desto
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: desto
• → Swedish: desto

Further reading

• “desto” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “desto” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “desto” in Duden online