Etymology

have to

Today it means: Must; need to; to be urged to; to be required to; indicates obligation. Full definition →

Old English habban
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromhabban
  2. English todayhave to

Dates back at least to the Old English habban + tō construction, with the same meaning as sense 1 below.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishhabban all →

have

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.