■ noun a construction consisting of an infinitive with an adverb or other word inserted between to and the verb, e.g. she seems to really like it .
Usage
It is still widely held that splitting infinitives is wrong, a view based on an analogy with Latin. In Latin, infinitives cannot be split as they consist of only one word (e.g. amare ‘to love’). It is therefore said that they should not be split in English either. But English is not the same as Latin, and the avoidance of a ~ can change the emphasis of a sentence or sound awkward (as in she seems really to like it ). For this reason, the rule about avoiding ~s is not followed so strictly today, although it is best not to split them in formal writing.