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Of
Definitions
- 1 Initialism of Old French. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 Initialism of Old Frisian. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 3 Abbreviation of OnlyFans. Internet, abbreviation, alt-of
- 4 Initialism of Ordinary Form. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 Abbreviation of outfield. abbreviation, alt-of
- 2 Abbreviation of outfielder. abbreviation, alt-of
- 1 Expressing distance or motion.; From (a place); off. dialectal, obsolete
"Take the chicken out of the freezer."
- 2 Expressing distance or motion.; Since, from (a given time, earlier state etc.).
"He hasn't been well of late."
- 3 Expressing distance or motion.; From, away from (a position, number, distance etc.).
"There are no shops within twenty miles of the cottage."
- 4 Expressing separation.; Indicating removal, absence or separation, with the action indicated by a transitive verb and the quality or substance by a grammatical object.
"Finally she was relieved of the burden of caring for her sick husband."
- 5 Expressing separation.; Indicating removal, absence or separation, with resulting state indicated by an adjective.
"He seemed devoid of human feelings."
Show 35 more definitions
- 6 Expressing separation.; Indicating removal, absence or separation, construed with an intransitive verb. obsolete
"He was kindly treated by the people at Saco, and recovered of his wounds."
- 7 Expressing origin.; Indicating an ancestral source or origin of descent.
"The word is believed to be of Japanese origin."
- 8 Expressing origin.; Introducing an epithet that indicates a birthplace, residence, dominion, or other place associated with the individual.
"Jesus of Nazareth (after hometown)"
- 9 Expressing origin.; Indicating a (non-physical) source of action or emotion; introducing a cause, instigation; from, out of, as an expression of.
"The invention was born of necessity."
- 10 Expressing origin.; Indicates the source or cause of the verb.
"It is said that she died of a broken heart."
- 11 Expressing origin.; Indicates the subject or cause of the adjective.
"I am tired of all this nonsense."
- 12 Expressing agency.; Indicates the agent (for most verbs, now usually expressed with by).
"I am not particularly enamoured of this idea."
- 13 Expressing agency.; Used to introduce the "subjective genitive"; following a noun to form the head of a postmodifying noun phrase (see also 'Possession' senses below).
"The contract can be terminated at any time with the agreement of both parties."
- 14 Expressing agency.; Used to indicate the agent of something described by the adjective.
"It was very brave of you to speak out like that."
- 15 Expressing composition, substance.; Used to indicate the material or substance used.
"Many 'corks' are now actually made of plastic."
- 16 Expressing composition, substance.; Used to indicate the material of the just-mentioned object.
"She wore a dress of silk."
- 17 Expressing composition, substance.; Indicating the composition of a given collective or quantitative noun.
"I'll have a dozen of those apples, please."
- 18 Expressing composition, substance.; Used to link a given class of things with a specific example of that class.
"Welcome to the historic town of Harwich."
- 19 Expressing composition, substance.; Links two nouns in near-apposition, with the first qualifying the second; "which is also".
"I'm not driving this wreck of a car."
- 20 Introducing subject matter.; Links an intransitive verb, or a transitive verb and its subject (especially verbs to do with thinking, feeling, expressing etc.), with its subject-matter; concerning, with regard to.
"I'm always thinking of you."
- 21 Introducing subject matter.; Introduces its subject matter; about, concerning.
"He told us the story of his journey to India."
- 22 Introducing subject matter.; Introduces its subject matter.
"This behaviour is typical of teenagers."
- 23 Having partitive effect.; Introduces the whole for which is indicated only the specified part or segment; "from among".
"Most of these apples are rotten."
- 24 Having partitive effect.; Indicates a given part.
"We want a larger slice of the cake."
- 25 Having partitive effect.; Some, an amount of, one of. archaic, literary
"On the whole, they seem to be of the decent sort."
- 26 Having partitive effect.; Links to a genitive noun or possessive pronoun, with partitive effect (though now often merged with possessive senses, below; see also double possessive).
"He is a friend of mine."
- 27 Expressing possession.; Belonging to, existing in, or taking place in a given location, place or time. Compare "origin" senses, above.
"He was perhaps the most famous scientist of the twentieth century."
- 28 Expressing possession.; Belonging to (a place) through having title, ownership or control over it.
"The owner of the nightclub was arrested."
- 29 Expressing possession.; Belonging to (someone or something) as something they possess or have as a characteristic; the "possessive genitive". (With abstract nouns, this intersects with the subjective genitive, above under "agency" senses.)
"Keep the handle of the saucepan away from the flames."
- 30 Forming the "objective genitive".
- 31 Forming the "objective genitive".; Follows an agent noun, verbal noun or noun of action.
"She had a profound distrust of the police."
- 32 Expressing qualities or characteristics.; Links an adjective with a noun or noun phrase to form a quasi-adverbial qualifier; in respect to, as regards. archaic, literary
"My companion seemed affable and easy of manner."
- 33 Expressing qualities or characteristics.; Indicates a quality or characteristic; "characterized by".
"Pooh was said to be a bear of very little brain."
- 34 Expressing qualities or characteristics.; Indicates quantity, age, price, etc.
"A young man of 20 has been paying interest at an exorbitant rate of 10%."
- 35 Expressing qualities or characteristics.; Used to link singular indefinite nouns (preceded by the indefinite article) and attributive adjectives modified by certain common adverbs of degree. US, informal
"It's not that big of a deal."
- 36 Expressing a point in time.; During the course of (a set period of time, day of the week etc.), now specifically with implied repetition or regularity. regional
"Of an evening, we would often go for a stroll along the river."
- 37 Expressing a point in time.; For (a given length of time). UK, dialectal
"I’ve not taken her out of a goodly long while."
- 38 Expressing a point in time.; Indicates duration of a state, activity etc.
"After a delay of three hours, the plane finally took off."
- 39 Expressing a point in time.; Before (the hour); to (the hour). US
"I’ll be ready at ten of two"
- 40 Expressing a point in time.; Before (the hour); to (the hour).; Often used without the hour US, informal
"I’ll be ready at ten of"
- 1 Eye dialect spelling of have and 've, chiefly in depictions of colloquial speech. alt-of, pronunciation-spelling
"I have refrained from giving many details which I might of 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"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó Proto-Germanic *ab Proto-West Germanic *ab Old English æf Old English of Middle English of English of From Middle English of, from Old English of (“from, out of, off”), an unstressed form of æf, from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“away; away from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away”). Doublet of off, which is the stressed descendant of the same Old English word. More at off.
A spelling of /əv/ influenced by Etymology 1.
See also for "of"
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