Meanings
alternative toto cælo
- not comparablelawBy diametrical opposition, as far apart as possible.
The Ingævones, according to Pliny’s own account, were the Chauci, &c. who were all on the west, not the east, so that he errs toto cælo.
1789, John Pinkerton, An Enquiry into the History of Scotland Preceding the Reign of Malcolm III. or the Year 1056, London: George Nicol, Volume 2, Appendix, p. 2042 more examples
All which three, viz. Things as they are in themselves knowable; Actions as they depend on us, in order to Happiness; and the right use of Signs in order to Knowledge, being toto cælo different, they seemed to me to be the three great Provinces of the intellectual World, wholly separate and distinct one from another.
1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, London: Thomas Basset, Book 4, Chapter 20, p. 362[…] where local agents differed toto cælo in capacity and character, where the personnel was continually changing, the outcome was necessarily varied.
1903, W. E. B. Du Bois, chapter 2, in The Souls of Black Folk, Chicago: McClurg, page 31
Origin
- Latintōto“whole, all”
- Englishtoto caelo
From Latin tōto (“whole, all”) + caelō (“heaven”), literally “by the whole [extent] of heaven”.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Spanish ser algo totalmente distinto, ser algo completamente distinto
- ser algo totalmente distintoBy diametrical opposition, as far apart as possible
- ser algo completamente distintoBy diametrical opposition, as far apart as possible
- diferir totalmenteBy diametrical opposition, as far apart as possible
- ser algo totalmente diferenteBy diametrical opposition, as far apart as possible
Cite this entry
toto caelo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toto%20caelo
“toto caelo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toto%20caelo. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toto caelo,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toto%20caelo.
Source: toto caelo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.