See to a T in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for to a T meaning in English (5.3kB)
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"args": {
"1": "en",
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"expansion": "uncertain",
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"2": "tittle"
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"2": "tees"
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"2": "to a tee"
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"2": "T-square"
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{
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"1": "mul",
"2": "t"
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"etymology_text": "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.\n* 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.\n*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.",
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"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
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"name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
"parents": [
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"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w"
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"examples": [
{
"text": "The announcement of the political endorsement was timed to a T.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1868, Ann Sophia Stephens, Doubly False",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1964, \"On the Trail of the Amazing Spider-Man!\" (page 7), Tales to Astonish #57, Marvel Comics",
"text": "You've sure got everything figured out to a \"T\", boss!"
},
{
"ref": "1979, “Rapper’s Delight”, performed by Sugarhill Gang",
"text": "You see I'm six foot one and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a tee",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Precisely; exactly; perfectly; with great attention to detail."
],
"id": "en-to_a_T-en-prep_phrase-P-ECGrxG",
"links": [
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[
"exactly",
"exactly"
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[
"perfectly",
"perfectly"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Precisely; exactly; perfectly; with great attention to detail."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"tags": [
"emphatic"
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"word": "down to a T"
},
{
"word": "to a tee"
},
{
"english": "T",
"word": "to a"
},
{
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
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"word": "to the T"
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"tags": [
"idiomatic"
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"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "bùzhébùkòu",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "不折不扣"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "qiàqiàhǎo",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "恰恰好"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "絲毫不差"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "sīháobùchà",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "丝毫不差"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "do puntíku"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "tismalleen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "pilkulleen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "à la perfection"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "à merveille"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "auf den Punkt gebracht"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "go cruinn beacht"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "co do joty"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "v soveršénstve",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "в соверше́нстве"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "komar nosa ne podtočit",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "комар носа не подточит"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "på pricken"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "i'r dim"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Francis Beaumont",
"The Woman Hater"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-to a T.ogg",
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"word": "to a T"
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{
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"expansion": "t",
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"etymology_text": "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.\n* 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.\n*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.",
"head_templates": [
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"expansion": "to a T",
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"expansion": "to a T",
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],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "prep_phrase",
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{
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"English prepositional phrases",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English terms with usage examples",
"Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "The announcement of the political endorsement was timed to a T.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1868, Ann Sophia Stephens, Doubly False",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1964, \"On the Trail of the Amazing Spider-Man!\" (page 7), Tales to Astonish #57, Marvel Comics",
"text": "You've sure got everything figured out to a \"T\", boss!"
},
{
"ref": "1979, “Rapper’s Delight”, performed by Sugarhill Gang",
"text": "You see I'm six foot one and I'm tons of fun and I dress to a tee",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Precisely; exactly; perfectly; with great attention to detail."
],
"links": [
[
"Precisely",
"precisely"
],
[
"exactly",
"exactly"
],
[
"perfectly",
"perfectly"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Precisely; exactly; perfectly; with great attention to detail."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
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"wikipedia": [
"Francis Beaumont",
"The Woman Hater"
]
}
],
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"synonyms": [
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"tags": [
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"word": "down to a T"
},
{
"word": "to a tee"
},
{
"english": "T",
"word": "to a"
},
{
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "to the T"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "bùzhébùkòu",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "不折不扣"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "qiàqiàhǎo",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "恰恰好"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "絲毫不差"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "sīháobùchà",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "丝毫不差"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "do puntíku"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "tismalleen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "pilkulleen"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "à la perfection"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "à merveille"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "auf den Punkt gebracht"
},
{
"code": "ga",
"lang": "Irish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "go cruinn beacht"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "co do joty"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "v soveršénstve",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "в соверше́нстве"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "komar nosa ne podtočit",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "комар носа не подточит"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "på pricken"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "precisely; exactly",
"word": "i'r dim"
}
],
"word": "to a T"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.