Definition of Of

What does the word Of mean?

• part of speech: noun

  prep. connecting its noun with preceding n., adj., adv., or vb, & indicating the relations roughly classified as follows: Removal, separation, point of departure, privation, (north, within a mile, upwards, have the advantage, of; back of United States, behind; wide of the mark; heal, rid, ease, brought to BED, of; destitute, empty, free, bare, of; take LEAVE of; balk, cheat, defraud, deprive, disappoint, of; independently, guiltless, irrespective, of); origin, derivation, cause, agency, authorship, (be, come, descend, spring, of; borrow, buy, win, receive, hire, of; TAKE it ill of; have comfort, wish one joy, of; ask, demand, learn, expect, of; of one\'s own ACCORD; of COURSE, of RIGHT, of NECESSITY; of oneself, spontaneously; die of; smell, savour, smack, of; tired, ashamed, afraid, glad, proud, of; sick of measles, laid up with; sick of delays, disgusted by; warned of God, forsaken of God& man, by; it was kind, foolish, naughty, clever, cruel, well done, of you to say so; has the approval of his master; the works of Shakspere, Iliad of Homer); material, substance, closer definition, identity (house of cards; built of brick; make a FOOL, the BEST, of; MAKE much of; a family of eight; the name of Jones; the class of idiots; city of Rome, vice of drunkenness; a fool of a man, her scamp of a husband, the worst liar of any man I know; had a bad time, troublesome journey, of it); concern, reference, direction, respect, (think well of him; never heard of it; was informed of the fact; is true of every case; repent, beware, of; cannot conceive, accept, approve, THINK, of; does not admit or allow of; accuse, convict, suspect, of; avail, bethink, oneself of; SHORT, guilty, certain, sure; confident, fond, of; swift of foot, blind of an eye, hard of heart, HARD of hearing; at 30 years of age); objective relation (the levying of taxes; love of virtue; in search of knowledge; great eaters of pork; redolent, productive, fruitful, lavish, prodigal, sparing, capable, sensible, careful, observant, desirous, impatient, characteristic, destructive, indicative. of); description, quality, condition, (man of tact, person of consequence, farm of 100 acres, the hour of prayer, potatoes of our own growing; girl of ten years, or, with mixed construction, of ten years old); partition, classification, inclusion, selection, (no more of that; some, five, of us, =a. a portion, or five, of us who are more numerous, or by extension b. we, being several or five persons; so any part, or the whole, of it; the most dangerous of enemies; he of all men, he most or least of all; is the one thing of all others that, illog. for of all that; song of songs, holy of holies, those best deserving the name; is one of a, ten, thousand, such as occurs only in one among 1,000, 10,000, cases; a friend of mine, of the vicar\'s, i.e. orig. in the number of my, the vicar\'s, friends, but extended to illog. contexts, as that long nose of his, this only son of the vicar\'s; drink deep of flattery, partake of food; was sworn of the Council, admitted as member; his temper is of the quickest, belongs to the quickest class; a sort of thud; comes in of an evening, at some time in the evenings; of old, yore, late years, late, somewhere in the specified periods); belonging, connexion, possession, (we of the middle class; companions of his exile; articles of clothing; the manners of today; a thing of the past; the master of the house; the widow of the man who was killed; a topic of conversation; esp. with words that naturally require supplementing, as the cause, result, counterpart, opposite, image, of); BECAUSE, by MEANS, for FEAR, for the SAKE, in BEHALF, in CASE, in FACE, in RESPECT, in SPITE, INSTEAD, on ACCOUNT, on BEHALF, on the POINT, of. [old English]