⬆️ To a surface 🕵️ Aware of something 🔢 Covers all outputs

onto

∞ 1.0

To move so a person or thing is on a surface or into a new activity

adposition
/ˈɒntu/

: encima de (físico)

I am going to put this onto my drill press.
load onto the truck
spill onto the floor
window onto the street

So let me just get it onto switch mode now.

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Examples

And then the output goes onto the screen.
And this is going onto your lid as well.
Max, he led 20 kids onto Washington Street.

Ezra (2024)
You loved it and you wanted to take it out onto the main road, and drive it with all the big cars.

All of Us Strangers (2023)
So let me just get it onto switch mode now.

The Late Late Show with James Corden
So I'm just going to start patting that onto my skin.
We're going to start pressing onto the skin from the forehead.
I'm just going to pack that onto my eyelid.
Few were adventurous and climbed up onto a container.
The cat jumped onto the roof to catch a bird.

Synonyms

upon

vsonto

Formal

∞ 1.0

On something or immediately after it happens

implies moving into contact or shifting to a new stage rather than static placement

Compounds

onto function

Specialized

9.6

A rule that gives every possible output from some input

Surface Forms

onto main

Morphology

onto = (transparent) = on + to

The spatial meaning 'onto' is a straightforward fusion of 'on' + 'to' indicating movement to a position on a surface, which learners can derive from the components. [Postprocessing: moved 'on', 'to' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Onto comes from putting on ('on') and to ('toward') together, so it shows movement to a surface or position. That's why you climb onto a table or put something onto a shelf.