Character 迄

It means reaching a point or its boundary.

Chinese dictionaries gloss 迄 as “to reach.” Classical texts use it for boundaries: 以迄于今 means “down to today.” 迄 and 至 are close in classical Chinese; both can mark reaching an endpoint.

In Japanese, 迄 can write the particle まで, a short grammar word for endpoints or limits. Depending on the sentence, it can also mark degree, “only,” or “even.” The word まで predates this kanji spelling: the chronicle Kojiki records it in phonetic writing in 712; the poetry anthology Man’yōshū does so in the late 8th century.