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onto
1[ on-too, awn-; unstressed on-tuh, awn- ]
onto-
2- a combining form meaning “being,” used in the formation of compound words:
ontogeny.
onto-
1combining_form
- existence or being
ontology
ontogeny
onto
2/ ˈɒntə; ˈɒntʊ /
preposition
- to a position that is on
step onto the train as it passes
- having become aware of (something illicit or secret)
the police are onto us
- into contact with
get onto the factory
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Usage
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of onto1
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Example Sentences
For his part, Bratton is disappointed but not surprised that the same narrative is already being mapped onto Fry and Spencer.
So it might be me projecting my desires onto Archer to want to just get away from work for a few weeks.
I was sick in street gutters, onto my desk, at dinners with friends.
Gang tattoos are still inked onto his face, like scarlet letters.
Where these laser-like missiles are falling out of the sky onto a city and you have to stop each of them from hitting the targets?
I put down my haid, and was just kinda dragged up the aisle and onto the platform.
His untidy hair was rumpled, as if someone had been hanging onto it while in the process of giving him the shiner.
Either: we cannot give you what you ask, so fall back onto the defensive; or, go ahead, we will give you the means.
But momentum was sufficient to carry Jeff Weedham's roadster out onto the road.
Black Hood let the clutch slap in and the roadster bounded back onto the tarvia drive.
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Words That Use
What does onto- mean?
Onto- is a combining form used like a prefix meaning “being.” It is occasionally used in technical terms, especially in philosophy.
The form onto- comes from Greek ṓn, meaning “being.” The Latin equivalents are ēns, ent- and essent- “being,” which are the sources of entity and essence.
What are variants of onto-?
When combined with words or word elements that begin with a vowel, onto- becomes ont-, as in ontic. When used as a suffix at the end of a word, onto- becomes -ont, as in diplont. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for ont- and -ont.
Examples of onto-
One example of a term from philosophy that features the form onto- is ontology, the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence. Ontology comes from the New Latin ontologia, which uses the equivalent form of onto- in the language.
The onto- part of the word means “being,” but what about the -logy part of the word? It may look familiar from words like biology; the form -logy is used to name areas of study or branches of science, from Greek logía. Ontology literally means “the study of being.”
What are some words that use the combining form onto-?
What are some other forms that onto- may be commonly confused with?
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