desto

Abbreviation of destination.

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.

• doest, does't, tosed, todes, dotes

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

• des, jo

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛstoː/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

• nichtsdestoweniger, nichtsdestominder, nichtsdestotrotz

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

• “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

• IPA^(key): /ˈdes.to/, /ˈdɛs.to/^[1]
• Rhymes: -esto, -ɛsto
• Hyphenation: dé‧sto, dè‧sto

Unsuffixed past participle of destare (“to awaken”).

desto (feminine desta, masculine plural desti, feminine plural deste)

1. (archaic) past participle of destare

desto (feminine desta, masculine plural desti, feminine plural deste)

1. awake

desto

1. first-person singular present indicative of destare

From German desto.

desto (also functioning as a conjunction)

1. (used before a comparative with jo to express comparison) even, all the more

   Vel, han røyker jo mye, men drikker desto mer. ― Well, he does smoke a lot, but drinks even more.

2. (forming the parallel comparative with jo) the, more

   Jo mer jeg tenker over det, desto merkeligere virker det. ― The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

• desto bedre
• desto mer
• ikke desto mindre

• “desto” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “desto” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From German desto.

desto (also functioning as a conjunction)

1. (used before a comparative to express comparison) all the better, all the more

   Vel, han røykjer jo mykje, men drikk desto meir.

   Well, he does smoke much, but drinks all the more.

2. the more (forming the parallel comparative with jo, compare German section)

   Jo meir eg tenkjer over det, desto merkeligare verkar det.

   The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.

• desto betre
• desto meir
• ikkje desto mindre

• “desto” in The Ordnett Dictionary
• “desto” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• preposition de + determiner esto

desto

1. (obsolete) of this

• “desto”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Borrowed from German desto.

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛstʊ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -¹ɛstʊ

desto

1. the, all the (with a comparative)

   Vi äter inte mycket, men dricker desto mer.

   We don't eat much, but drink all the more.

   1. Forms a parallel comparative with ju.

      Ju mer, desto bättre

      The more, the better

Colloquially, desto as a parallel comparative is sometimes replaced by a second ju: "Ju mer, ju bättre." "Desto mer, desto bättre" also occurs.

• desto in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• desto in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• desto in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

• stode