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desto - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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.

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

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.

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
  • → Danish: desto
  • → Norwegian:
  • → Swedish: desto

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
  1. ^ desto in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

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.

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.
  • preposition de + determiner esto

desto

  1. (obsolete) of this

Borrowed from German desto.

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.