Meanings
- Indicates result; in order that, with the result that.
He must die so that (as a result) others may/might live.
2 more examples
You so create your own activities that you find them fulfilling.
He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp, and as the leader of the wolves came on the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the wolf's head from its body, so that it immediately died.
1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC - Indicates purpose; in such a way that, with the intent that.
So that I'd pass, I studied really hard.
3 more examples
He tied a complex knot so that others would find it hard to undo.
I’ll open a window, so that we’ll get some fresh air in here.
The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishswā þæt
- Middle Englishso that
- Englishso that
From Middle English so that, so þat, sa þat, swo þat, swa þat, from Old English swā þæt, equivalent to so + that. Cognate with Saterland Frisian sodät, West Frisian sadat, Dutch zodat, German sodaß, sodass.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sodat
- sodatin order to
Arabic حَتَّى
- حَتَّى (ḥattā)in order to
Bengali যাতে
- যাতে (jate)in order to
Catalan perquè, per a que
- perquèin order to
- per a quein order to
Chinese Mandarin 以便, 為了 /为了
- 以便 (yǐbiàn)in order to
- 為了 /为了 (wèile)in order to
Czech aby
- abyin order to
Dutch zodat, opdat
- zodatin order to
- opdatin order to
Esperanto por ke, tiel ke
- por kein order to
- tiel kein order to
Finnish jotta, niin, että
- jottain order to
- niin, ettäin order to
- siten, ettäin such a way that, with the intent that
- jottain such a way that, with the intent that
French de sorte que, pour que
- de sorte quein order to
- pour quein order to
- afin quein order to
- afin dein order to
German damit, sodass
- damitin order to
- sodassin order to
Hebrew כדי ש־, על מנת ש־
- כדי ש־ (k’dey she-)in order to
- על מנת ש־ (‘al menát she-)in order to
Hindi ताकि
- ताकि (tāki)in order to
Hungarian hogy, azért, hogy
- hogyin order to
- azért, hogyin order to
Icelandic þannig að
- þannig aðin order to
Indonesian agar, supaya
- agarin order to
- supayain order to
Irish i riocht is go, ar nós go
- i riocht is goin order to
- ar nós goin order to
- sa chaoi goin order to
- ionas goin order to
Italian cosicché, perché
- cosicchéin order to
- perchéin order to
- affinchéin order to
Japanese ...ために
- ...ためにin order to
Latin ut, ut
- utin order to
- utin such a way that, with the intent that
Latvian tāpēc, tāpēc ka
- tāpēcin order to
- tāpēc kain order to
Malay اݢر, سوڤايا
- اݢرin order to
- سوڤاياin order to
- agarin order to
- supayain order to
Persian تا, که
- تا (tâ)in order to
- که (ke)in order to
Polish żeby, aby
- żebyin order to
- abyin order to
- byin order to
- ażebyin order to
- żebyin such a way that, with the intent that
- abyin such a way that, with the intent that
- byin such a way that, with the intent that
- ażebyin such a way that, with the intent that
Portuguese para que, de modo que
- para quein order to
- de modo quein order to
- em tal guisa quein order to
Russian так что, что́бы
- так что (tak što)in order to
- что́бы (štóby)in order to
- чтоб (štob)in order to
- да́бы (dáby)in order to
Scottish Gaelic air chor 's gu
- air chor 's guin order to
Slovak aby
- abyin order to
Swedish så att, så
- så attin order to
- såin order to
- så attin such a way that, with the intent that
- såin such a way that, with the intent that
- för attin such a way that, with the intent that
Turkish ki
- kiin order to
Ukrainian щоб, що́би
- щоб (ščob)in order to
- що́би (ščóby)in order to
- аби́ (abý)in order to
Yiddish בכדי
- בכדי (bikhdéy)in order to
Cite this entry
so that. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so%20that
“so that.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so%20that. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “so that,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/so%20that.
Source: so that on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.