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Definition of Split infinitive
1. Noun. An infinitive with an adverb between 'to' and the verb (e.g., 'to boldly go').
Definition of Split infinitive
1. Noun. an infinitive with one or more modifiers inserted between the ''to'' and the verb ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Split Infinitive
Literary usage of Split infinitive
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage by Inc. Merriam-Webster (1994)
"To repeat, the objection to the split infinitive has never had a rational basis.
... Even though it goes back to the 14th century. the split infinitive was ..."
2. Text, Type and Style: A Compendium of Atlantic Usage by George Burnham Ives, Atlantic monthly press, inc., Boston (1921)
"The split infinitive Despite the arguments of those who claim that "to" is no
... and the "split infinitive" is taboo there, if for no other reason, ..."
3. Grammar and Its Reasons, for Students and Teachers of the English Tongue by Mary Hall Leonard (1907)
"The usage of the split infinitive has been violently contested by ... "The split
infinitive is a synthetical combination now establishing itself. ..."
4. Composition and Rhetoric for Schools by Robert Herrick, Lindsay Todd Damon (1899)
"The split infinitive.— The fault of inserting a word between "to," the sign of
the infinitive, ... split infinitive."
5. New Composition and Rhetoric for Schools by Robert Herrick, Lindsay Todd Damon (1911)
"Participles used without any antecedent are called "loose," "dangling," or "hanging"
participles. 3. The split infinitive. ..."
6. Modern English: Its Growth and Present Use by George Philip Krapp (1909)
"Parallel to the construction of the split infinitive is a sentence like the ...
Examples of " split infinitive " can of course be found in the writing of ..."
7. The Wit and Humor of America by Marshall Pinckney Wilder (1911)
""Then, if I split it, what else could it be but a split infinitive, I'd like to
know ?" "Well," said Dickey, a bit timidly, "I never heard a block of wood ..."
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