Sir said Galahad by this shelde ben many merueils fallen / Sir sayd the knyght hit befelle after the passion of our lord Ihesu Crist xxxij yere that Ioseph of Armathye the gentyl knyghte / the whiche took doune oure lordof the hooly Crosse att that tyme he departed from Iherusalem with a grete party of his kynred with hym
Sir, said Galahad, by this shield many marvels have fallen / Sir, said the knight, it befell after the passion of our lord Jesus Christ, year 32, when Joseph of Arimathea, the gentile knight, / took down our lordof the holy Cross. At that time, he departed from Jerusalem with a great party of his kindred with him
1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym;Robert Burton],The Anatomy of Melancholy,[…], Oxford, Oxfordshire:[…] John Lichfield and Iames Short, for Henry Cripps,→OCLC, partition 2, section 3, member 5, subsection 2:
Against headache, vertigo, vapours which ascend forthof the stomach to molest the head, read Hercules de Saxonia and others.
(obsolete except in phrases)Since,from (a given time, earlier state etc.).[from 9th c.]
Though Washington does not officially recognize Moscow, the Hoover Administration permits a Soviet Russian Information Bureau to flourish in a modest red brick house on Massachusetts Avenue, within a mileof the White House.
There are now upwardsof 1.4 million 99ers in America facing a life with no benefits and few prospects for finding a job in a market in which companies are still not hiring.
And ther with on his handes and on his knees he wente soo nyghe that he touched the holy vessel / and kyste hit / and anone he was hole / and thenne he sayd lord god I thanke the / for I am helydof this sekenesse
And there, with his hands and on his knees, he got so close that he touched the holy vessel / and kissed it / and he was whole straight away / and then he said: lord God, I thank thee / for I am healedof this sickness
Antigonus [took] upon him to favour a souldier of his by reason of his vertue and valour, to have great care of him, and see whether they could recover himof a lingering and inward disease which had long tormented him[…]
1816 February 20, Jane Austen,Letter:
I am almost entirely curedof my rheumatism—just a little pain in my knee now and then, to make me remember what it was, and keep on flannel.
In Houston, ten minutes after the Lindquist Finance Corp. was robbedof $447, Office Manager Howard Willson got a phone call from the thief who complained: "You didn't have enough money over there."
Indicating removal, absence or separation, with resulting state indicated by anadjective.[from 10th c.]
He seemed devoidof human feelings.
1731 August 28, Jonathan Swift,Letter:
But schemes are perfectly accidental: some will appear barrenof hints and matter, but prove to be fruitful[…]
They wondred all, and marveylled sayinge amonge themselves: Loke, are not all these which speakeoff galile? And howe heare we every man his awne tongue wherein we were boren?
1954,The Rotarian, volume 85:6:
My father was bornof a family of weavers in Manchester, England.
2010, “The Cost of Repair”, inThe Economist:
Nothing may comeof these ideas, yet their potential should not be dismissed.
Faire knyght said Palomydes me semeth we haue assayed eyther other passyng sore / and yf hit may please the / I requyre theof thy knyghthode telle me thy name / Sir said the knyȝt to Palomydes / that is me loth to doo / for thou hast done me wronge.
Fair knight, said Palamedes, seems to me we have assayed, either other passing sore / and if it may please thee / I request thee,of thy knighthood, tell me thy name / Sir, said the knight to Palamedes, / I am loath to do that / for thou hast done me wrong.
1803, John Smalley,Sermons:
Undoubtedly it is to be understood, that inflicting deserved punishment on all evil doers,of right, belongs to God.
The woman who danced for me said she was thereof her own free will, but when I pushed a bit further, I discovered that she "owed a man a lot of money", and had to pay it back quickly.
(following an intransitive verb)Indicates the source orcause of the verb.[from 10th c.]
It is said that she diedof a broken heart.
2006, Joyce Carol Oates,The Female of the Species:
He smelledof beer and cigarette smoke and his own body.
Two men, one from Somalia and one from Zimbabwe, diedof terminal illnesses shortly after their incarceration ended.
(following an adjective)Indicates the subject or cause of the adjective.[from 13th c.]
I am tiredof all this nonsense.
2010 September 23, Bagehot,The Economist:
Lib Dems were appalled by Mr Boles’s offer, however kindly meant: the party is so frightenedof losing its independence under Mr Clegg that such a pact would “kill” him, says a senior member.
2015, Vincent J. M. DiMaio,Gunshot Wounds:
Thus, one finds individuals deadof a gunshot wound with potentially lethal levels of drugs.
Expressing agency.
(following apassive verb)Indicates theagent (for most verbs, now usually expressed withby).[from 9th c.]
[S]he might appeare to be the lively patterne of another Lucrece, yet know I certainly that, both before that time and afterward, she had beene enjoyedof others upon easier composition.
1995,The Family: A Proclamation to the World[1], The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
The family is ordainedof God.
2008 March 27, “Selling rhythm to the world”, inThe Economist:
Colombia and Venezuela share an elegantly restrained style, with much back-stepping, smaller hand-movements and little use of the elaborate, arm-tangling moves belovedof Cuban dancers.
The contract can be terminated at any time with the agreementof both parties.
1994, Paul Coates,Film at the Intersection of High and Mass Culture, page136:
InBlood and Sand, meanwhile, Valentino repeatedly solicits the attentionof women who have turned away from him.
2009 December 28, “Head to head”, inThe Economist:
Somehow Croatia has escaped the opprobriumof the likes of the German Christian Democrats and others that are against any rapid enlargement of the European Union to the include rest of the western Balkans.
(following an adjective)Used to indicate the agent of something described by the adjective.[from 16th c.]
It was very braveof you to speak out like that.
1815 December (indicated as1816), [Jane Austen],Emma:[…], volume(please specify |volume=I to III), London:[…][Charles Roworth and James Moyes] forJohn Murray,→OCLC:
When this was over, Mr. Woodhouse gratefully observed,—"It is very kindof you, Mr. Knightley, to come out at this late hour to call upon us."
Morrissey's spokesperson says he is considering the offer. It would perhaps be rudeof him to decline.
Expressing composition, substance.
(after a verb expressing construction, making etc.)Used to indicate thematerial orsubstance used.[from 9th c.]
Many 'corks' are now actually madeof plastic.
1846 February 26,Herman Melville, chapter XIX, inNarrative of a Four Months’ Residence among the Natives of a Valley of the Marquesas Islands; or, A Peep at Polynesian Life [Typee], London:John Murray,[…],→OCLC, part I,page164:
The mallet is madeof a hard heavy wood resembling ebony, is about twelve inches in length, and perhaps two in breadth, with a rounded handle at one end, and in shape is the exact counterpart of one of our four-sided razor-strops.
(directly following a noun)Used to indicate the material of the just-mentioned object.[from 10th c.]
Perhaps symbolically, Van Doesburg was building a houseof straw: he died within a few months of completion, not in Meudon but in Davos, of a heart attack following a bout of asthma.
It's 25kmof rolling pitch from the start of the 175 to Nansi. If you want to continue riding through more undeveloped natural landscape, head up the east side of Tsengwen Reservoir.
I'd expected to be confronted by oodlesof barely suppressed tension and leather-clad, pouty-mouthed, large-haired sexiness; the visual shorthand of rock gods in general, andJon Bon Jovi in particular.
Used to link a givenclass of things with a specific example of that class.[from 12th c.]
"I'm having a bitchof a day," he says, after ordering a restorative pint of Guinness and flopping down in a seat by the front window.
Introducing subject matter.
Links anintransitive verb, or atransitive verb and its subject (especially verbs to do with thinking, feeling, expressing etc.), with its subject-matter;concerning, with regard to.[from 10th c.]
I'm always thinkingof you.
1815 December (indicated as1816), [Jane Austen],Emma:[…], volume(please specify |volume=I to III), London:[…][Charles Roworth and James Moyes] forJohn Murray,→OCLC:
[H]e spokeof his uncle with warm regard, was fond of talkingof him[…]
while producingCook, which includes more than 250 seasonal recipes by 80 different chefs, we washed up more than 500 times (oh, how I dreamedof dishwashers).
(following a noun (now chiefly nouns of knowledge, communication etc.))Introduces its subject matter;about,concerning.[from 12th c.]
He told us the storyof his journey to India.
2010 October 21,The Economist:
Recession and rising unemployment have put paid to most thoughtsof further EU enlargement.
(following an adjective)Introduces its subject matter.[from 15th c.]
But as for me said sire Gareth I medle not of their maters therfore there is noneof them that loueth me / And for I vnderstande they be murtherers of good knyghtes I lefte theyre company
But as for me, said Sir Gareth, I do not meddle their matters, therefore noneof them loves me / And, since I understand they are murderers of good knights, I left their company.
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My sense, as thoughof hemlock I had drunk,[…]
1846, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter IV, inThe Redskins; or, Indian and Injin:[…], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Burgess & Stringer,→OCLC,page56:
Dunning, however, isof the old school, and does not like new faces; so he will have no Irishman at his door, as is the case with two out of three of the houses at which one calls, now-a-days.
Links to a genitive noun or possessive pronoun, with partitive effect (though now often merged with possessive senses, below; see alsodouble possessive).[from 13th c.]
He is a friendof mine.
1893, Oscar Wilde,A Woman of No Importance, section IV:
He is just what I should have liked a sonof mine to be.
In its flattering way, the press tried to invest this habitof Bush's with the sense that it was indicative of a particularly sharp wit.
Expressing possession.
Belonging to, existing in, or taking place in a givenlocation,place ortime.Compare "origin" senses, above.[from 9th c.]
He was perhaps the most famous scientistof the twentieth century.
1774,Edward Long,The History of Jamaica. Or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of that Island, volume 2, book 2, chapter 7,5:
The building was erected in two years, at the parochial expence, on the foundation of the former one, which was irreparably damaged by the hurricaneof Auguſt, 1712.
1908, E. F. Benson,The Blotting Book:
Thus, as he dressed, the thoughts and the rageof yesterday began to stir and move in his mind again.
Within ten seconds, the citizensof New York, Cleveland, Detroit and Toronto were being given first-hand experience of what it was like to live in the nineteenth century.
Belonging to (a place) through havingtitle,ownership orcontrol over it.[from 9th c.]
In a much-anticipated radio broadcast the Dukeof Edinburgh said last night that Britain will be a grim place in the year 2000[…]
2001,Dictionary of National Biography, page27:
The third son, William John (1826-1902), was headmasterof the Boys' British School, Hitchin[…]
Belonging to (someone or something) as something theypossess or have as a characteristic;the "possessive genitive". (With abstract nouns, this intersects with the subjective genitive, above under "agency" senses.)[from 13th c.]
Keep the handleof the saucepan away from the flames.
1933, Havelock Ellis,Psychology of Sex, volume 4:
The breastsof young girls sometimes become tender at puberty in sympathy with the evolution of the sexual organs[…]
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishersof men.
2000, Sheila Ruth,Issues in Feminism:
Antifeminism has been a credible cover and an effective vehicle because the hatredof women is not politically anathema on either the Right or the Left.
1879, Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury,History of the English Language, page112:
This fact becomes very noticeable when a cultivated tongue ceases to be used any longer by the educated, and is heard only from the mouths of the illiterate. The variations which spring up under such circumstances are easyof observation, because we have an ideal standard preserved by which to compare the present with the past.
1917, Zane Gray,Wildfire, page35:
He was huge, raw-boned, knotty, longof body and longof leg, with the head of a war charger.
A young manof 20 has been paying interest at an exorbitant rateof 10%.
1903, Frank Norris,The Pit, Doubleday, published1924, page 4:
She was a tall young girlof about twenty-two or three, holding herself erect and with fine dignity.
1996, Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett,Principles of Physics, published2006, page428:
A police car, traveling southbound at a speedof 40.0 m/s, approaches with its siren producing sound at a frequencyof 2 500 Hz.
(US,informal, considered incorrect by some)Used to link singular indefinite nouns (preceded by the indefinite article) and attributive adjectives modified by certain common adverbs of degree.
It's not that bigof a deal.
1990, Mary Crain, “The Social Construction of National Identity in Highland Ecuador”, inAnthropological Quarterly, volume61, number 1,page43:
Such hegemonic projects often appropriate certain local traditions and re-inscribe them as "national," while dismissing other traditions which pose too greatof a threat to the reproduction of the existing socio-political order.
1998, Lyle McDonald,The Ketogenic Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner,page98:
For some individuals, even 1000 calories/day may be too greatof a deficit.
2017, Jean Reith Schroedel, Artour Aslanian, “A Case Study of Descriptive Representation: The Experience of Native American Elected Officials in South Dakota”, inAmerican Indian Quarterly, volume41, number 3,page278:
While it is quite obvious that the state continues to try and dilute the voting power of Native Americans, at least as bigof a challenge is the need for mobilizing Native American voters.
Expressing a point in time.
(chiefly regional)During the course of (a set period of time, day of the week etc.), now specifically with implied repetition or regularity.[from 9th c.]
Of an evening, we would often go for a stroll along the river.
I’ll be ready at 1:50, or 2:50, or whatever time ending in 50 makes most sense in context.
2022 May 16, Ariel Levine, 09:20 from the start, in Giancarlo Esposito, director,Better Call Saul S6E6: Axe and Grind (TV series), spoken by Private Investigator (Lennie Loftin):
Wednesday was more of the same. Out at 08:30, got to the office by quarterof, clients all day.
The use ofof to link nouns to attributive adjectives modified by certain adverbs is always optional; omittingof in such instances is always permissible and does not alter the meaning of the expression. Adverbs that may be used with this construction includetoo,so,how,as,more,less,this, andthat.
Mandarin:...的(zh)(...de),...之(zh)(...zhī) (in classical Chinese and in set expressions)
Cornish:
Kernewek Kemmyn:possessive construction (a son of a teacher =mab dyskador;the son of a/the teacher =mab a dhyskador;a/the son of the teacher =mab an dyskador)
Latin:in classical Latin, apposition with the same case is used; in medieval Latin, the example of a class can be used in the genitive modifying the class
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
I have refrained from giving many details which I mightof done, from feelings of delicacy; indeed, they were of so dark and dreadful a nature, that I could do no more than hint at them
Not uncommonly seen in colloquial writing, outside the context of intentional eye dialect spelling. This usage is considered erroneous and often vigorously proscribed.
Paul Heacock[et al.], editors (2009), “of”, inCambridge Academic Content Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire:Cambridge University Press,→ISBN, retrieved21 July 2017, reproduced in theCambridge English Dictionary website, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cognate withGermanab,Dutchaf,Englishof andoff. The expected Luxembourgish forms areaf (<af) anduef (<ave). The formof was probably formed as a compromise between both variants. Otherwise it would imply an irregularly lengthened Middle High German*āf, *āve.
Đā ġelǣredan ne beðurfon þyssera bōca, forðan ðe him mæġ heora āgen lār genihtsumian. Iċ cweðe nū þæt iċ næfre heonon forð ne āwende godspel oððe godspeltrahtasof Lēdene on Englisċ.
The learned have no need of these books, for their own learning will suffice. I say now that henceforth, I will never translate a gospel or a gospel-commentaryfrom Latin into English.
"Eal his reaf wæs awefenof olfendes hǽrum, his bigleofa wæs stiðlic; ne dranc he wines drenc, ne nanes gemencgedes wætan, ne gebrowenes: ofet hine fedde, and wude-hunig, and oðre waclice ðigena."
"All his garment was wovenof camel's hair, his food was coarse; he drank not drink of wine, nor of any mixed or prepared fluid: fruit fed him and wood-honey, and other common things."
Although the Modern English wordof descends from Old Englishof, the two words do not correlate perfectly in meaning.
This is especially true of the typical possessive meaning of the word in Modern English. Instead of usingof to denote possession, the Anglo-Saxons mostly used thegenitive case:
Dēaðes god man sċeal ofslēan and mann undēadlīcne dōn. ("The godof death must be killed and man made immortal.")
Iċ hine huntiġe oþeorðan endas. ("I'll hunt him to the endsof the Earth.")
Even the occasional instances where Old Englishof is translated best as "of" are a survival of the word's original sense "from" or "out of":
Sē weall is ġeworhtof tiġelan and eorþteorwe. ("The wall is madeof brick and asphalt.")
Þā hālġan ġewritu seċġaþ, þæt sē Hǣlendof fǣmnan ġeboren wæs. ("The holy scriptures say that Jesus was bornof a virgin.")
Note also thatof never means "about." Phrases like "to think of" and "to speak of" are rendered withbe orymb.
For doing something "out of" an emotion,for is typically used instead ofof:
Þættefor lufum ġedōn biþ, þæt ġewierþ simle beġeondan gōde and yfele. ("What is doneout of love always takes place beyond good and evil.")
For dying "of" a cause, various other prepositions or the bare dative/instrumental case are used; seesweltan.
Unclear, but totally overtook the function ofg-, inherited fromProto-Germanic*ga-.Thisetymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page96
