Nearby Words
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preposition
1.
(used to indicate distance or direction from, separation, deprivation, etc.): within a mile of the church; south of Omaha; to be robbed of one's money.
2.
(used to indicate derivation, origin, or source): a man of good family; the plays of Shakespeare; a piece of cake.
3.
(used to indicate cause, motive, occasion, or reason): to die of hunger.
4.
(used to indicate material, component parts, substance, or contents): a dress of silk; an apartment of three rooms; a book of poems; a package of cheese.
5.
EXPAND(used to indicate apposition or identity): Is that idiot of a salesman calling again?
6.
7.
(used to indicate possession, connection, or association): the king of France; the property of the church.
8.
(used to indicate inclusion in a number, class, or whole): one of us.
9.
10.
(used to indicate reference or respect): There is talk of peace.
11.
(used to indicate qualities or attributes): an ambassador of remarkable tact.
12.
(used to indicate a specified time): They arrived of an evening.
13.
Chiefly Northern U.S. before the hour of; until: twenty minutes of five.
14.
on the part of: It was very mean of you to laugh at me.
15.
in respect to: fleet of foot.
16.
set aside for or devoted to: a minute of prayer.
17.
COLLAPSEArchaic. by: consumed of worms.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English, Old English: of, off; cognate with German ab, Latin ab, Greek apó. See off, a-2, o'
before 900; Middle English, Old English: of, off; cognate with German ab, Latin ab, Greek apó. See off, a-2, o'
Usage note
Of is sometimes added to phrases beginning with the adverb how or too followed by a descriptive adjective: How long of a drive will it be? It's too hot of a day for tennis. This construction is probably modeled on that in which how or too is followed by much, an unquestionably standard use in all varieties of speech and writing: How much of a problem will that cause the government? EXPANDThere was too much of an uproar for the speaker to be heard. The use of of with descriptive adjectives after how or too is largely restricted to informal speech. It occurs occasionally in informal writing and written representations of speech. See also couple, off.
COLLAPSE
Of is sometimes added to phrases beginning with the adverb how or too followed by a descriptive adjective: How long of a drive will it be? It's too hot of a day for tennis. This construction is probably modeled on that in which how or too is followed by much, an unquestionably standard use in all varieties of speech and writing: How much of a problem will that cause the government? EXPANDThere was too much of an uproar for the speaker to be heard. The use of of with descriptive adjectives after how or too is largely restricted to informal speech. It occurs occasionally in informal writing and written representations of speech. See also couple, off.
COLLAPSE
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Of
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Compare a4.
Pronunciation note
Because the preposition of, when unstressed (a piece of cake), and the unstressed or contracted auxiliary verb have (could have gone, could've gone) are both pronounced [uh
v] or [uh] in connected speech, inexperienced writers commonly confuse the two words, spelling have as of (I would of handed in my book report, but the dog ate it). Professional writers have been able to exploit this spelling deliberately, especially in fiction, to help represent the speech of the uneducated: If he could of went home, he would of.
Because the preposition of, when unstressed (a piece of cake), and the unstressed or contracted auxiliary verb have (could have gone, could've gone) are both pronounced [uh
v] or [uh] in connected speech, inexperienced writers commonly confuse the two words, spelling have as of (I would of handed in my book report, but the dog ate it). Professional writers have been able to exploit this spelling deliberately, especially in fiction, to help represent the speech of the uneducated: If he could of went home, he would of. of-
variant of ob- (by assimilation) before f: offend.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To of
Collins
World English Dictionary
| OF | |
| —abbreviation for | |
| Old French (language) | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
of
O.E. of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) "away, away from," from P.Gmc. *af- (cf. O.N. af, O.Fris. af, of "of," Du. af "off, down," Ger. ab "off, from, down"), from PIE *apo- "off, away" (see apo-). Primary sense in O.E. was still "away," but shifted in M.E. with use
EXPANDof the word to translate L. de, ex, and especially O.Fr. de, which had come to be the substitute for the genitive case. "Of shares with another word of the same length, as, the evil glory of being accessory to more crimes against grammar than any other." [Fowler]
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
OF
|
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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