Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • preposition Derived or coming from; originating at or from.
  • preposition Caused by; resulting from.
  • preposition Away from; at a distance from.
  • preposition So as to be separated or relieved from.
  • preposition From the total or group comprising.
  • preposition Composed or made from.
  • preposition Associated with or adhering to.
  • preposition Belonging or connected to.
  • preposition Possessing; having.
  • preposition On one's part.
  • preposition Containing or carrying.
  • preposition Specified as; named or called.
  • preposition Centering on; directed toward.
  • preposition Produced by; issuing from.
  • preposition Characterized or identified by.
  • preposition With reference to; about.
  • preposition In respect to.
  • preposition Set aside for; taken up by.
  • preposition Before; until.
  • preposition During or on a specified time.
  • preposition By.
  • preposition Used to indicate an appositive.
  • preposition Archaic On.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Off.
  • noun Abbreviations of official;
  • noun of officinal.
  • A prefix, being of, off, in composition. See etymology.
  • An assimilated form of the prefix ob- before f-. See ob-.
  • noun An abbreviation of Order of Friars Minor.
  • A word primarily expressing the idea of literal departure away from or out of a place or position.
  • From; off; from off; out of; away or away from: expressing departure from or out of a position or location: the older English of off, now differentiated from of.
  • In distance or direction from; away from; measuring from: noting relative position in space or time: as, the current carried the brig just clear of the island; Switzerland is north of Italy; within an hour of his death; upward of a year.
  • From, by intervention, severance, removal, or riddance, as by restraining, debarring, depriving, divesting, defrauding, delivering, acquitting, or healing: as, to rob a man of his money; to cure one of a fever; to break one of a habit.
  • From.
  • Noting substance or material: as, a crown of gold; a rod of iron.
  • Noting cause, reason, motive, or occasion.
  • With verbs of sense, noting the presence of some quality, characteristic, or condition: as, the fields smell of new-mown hay; the sauce tastes of wine.
  • From among: a partitive use.
  • Out of: noting subtraction, separation, or selection from an aggregate; also, having reference to the whole of an aggregate taken distributively: as, one of many; five of them were captured; of all days in the year the most unlucky; there were ten of us.
  • From being (something else); instead of: noting change or passage from one state to another.
  • From: noting an initial point of time.
  • On; in; in the course of: noting time: as, of an evening; of a holiday; of old; of late.
  • During; throughout; for: noting a period of time.
  • In: noting position, condition, or state.
  • On; in; at: noting an object of thought.
  • Concerning; in regard to; relating to; about: as, short of money; in fear of their lives; barren of results; swift of foot; innocent of the crime; regardless of his health; ignorant of mathematics; what of that? to talk of peace; I know not what to think of him; beware of the dog!
  • Belonging to; pertaining to; possessed by: as, the prerogative of the king; the thickness of the wall; the blue of the sky.
  • Belonging to as a part or an appurtenance: as, the leg of a chair; the top of a mountain; the hilt of a sword.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English of, from Old English of ("of, from"), an unstressed form of af, æf ("from, off, away"), from Proto-Germanic *ab (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“from, off, back”). Cognate with Scots of, af ("off, away"), West Frisian af, ôf ("off, away"), Dutch af ("off, from"), Low German af ("off, from"), German ab ("off, from"), Danish af ("of"), Swedish av ("of"), Icelandic af ("of"), Gothic 𐌰𐍆 (af, "of, from"); and with Latin ab ("of, from, by"). Compare off.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word of.

Examples

  • -- The relation of possession may be expressed not only by (_'s_) and by _of_ but by the use of such phrases as _belonging to_, _property of_, etc.

    Higher Lessons in English A work on english grammar and composition Brainerd Kellogg

  • _A Description of the natives of_ Louisiana; _of their manners and customs, particularly those of the_ Natchez: _of their language, their religion, ceremonies_, Rulers _or_ Suns, _feasts, marriages, &c.

    History of Louisisana Or of the Western Parts of Virginia and Carolina: Containing -1775 Le Page du Pratz

  • "Some days after the above trial, (which by the way did not come to an ultimate decision, as I believe) I was present in my brother's office, when Judge Turner, in a long conversation with my brother on the subject of his trials with his wife, said, '_That woman has been the immediate cause of the death of_ six _of my servants, by her severities_!

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Part 3 of 4 American Anti-Slavery Society

  • "Some days after the above trial, (which by the way did not come to an ultimate decision, as I believe) I was present in my brother's office, when Judge Turner, in a long conversation with my brother on the subject of his trials with his wife, said, '_That woman has been the immediate cause of the death of_ six _of my servants, by her severities_!

    The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus American Anti-Slavery Society

  • Besides, he caused a general visitation to be made of all the land from Quito to Chile, registering the whole population for more than a thousand leagues; and imposed a tribute [_so heavy that no one could be owner of a_ mazorca _of maize, which is their bread for food, nor of a pair of_ usutas, _which are their shoes, nor marry, nor do a single thing without special licence from Tupac Inca.

    History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa

  • For _it is impossible not to foresee_, that the words and actions of men in different ranks and employments, and of different educations, _will perpetually be mistaken by each other_; and it cannot but be so, whilst they will judge with the utmost carelessness, as they daily do, _of what they are not perhaps enough informed to be competent judges of_, even though they considered it with great attention. "

    Apologia pro Vita Sua John Henry Newman 1845

  • Grief; for, as they came along the Road, they found it all bloody; and having good Cause to believe it was made bloody with the Blood of some of the White Brethren, they had very sorrowfully swept the Road; and desired them to inform the Governor of_ Pensilvania _of their (the_

    The Treaty Held with the Indians of the Six Nations at Philadelphia, in July 1742 To which is Prefix'd an Account of the first Confederacy of the Six Nations, their present Tributaries, Dependents, and Allies Various 1734

  • D. Hayworth, taking on John McCain in Arizona, was spurned for an endorsement, and even Ron Paul, the libertarian congressman who has been the emblem of sentiment against big government for decades, has found himself accused of  "going Washington."

    Has Obama Hit Bottom? 2010

  • The state prosecutor's office says 37-year-old Dragan Neskovic was arrested Wednesday in the northeastern town of  Bijeljina on suspicion of genocide.

    Bosnia Arrests Suspect in Srebrenica Massacre 2010

  • JOHN BURNETT: Last week, they held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, a sleepy agricultural town on the border, about an hour east of El Paso that looks like the bleak set of� "No Country for Old Men."

    Sheriff To Texas Border Town: 'Arm Yourselves' 2010

  • Diagnosis of an early pregnancy failure is often straightforward when ultrasound definitively identifies an intrauterine or extrauterine pregnancy.1-3 However, ultrasound does not definitively identify pregnancy location in up to 40% of women presenting for evaluation. This transient state is termed a pregnancy of unknown location.4 During surveillance, up to one-third of women will have serial human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) concentrations in a pattern suggesting neither an ongoing viable gestation nor a spontaneously resolving pregnancy loss; this scenario is termed a persisting pregnancy of unknown location. These women are at high risk of an ectopic pregnancy.

    Effect of an Active vs Expectant Management Strategy on Successful Resolution of Pregnancy Among Patients With a Persisting Pregnancy of Unknown Location: The ACT or NOT Randomized Clinical Trial For Authors 2021

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • me

    May 6, 2008