of 
Also, the maistres and bretheren to-fore said, euery jer 
schul foure tymes come to-geder, at som certein place, to 
speke touchyng the profit and ruyl of the forsaid brether- 
hede, of peyne of a pond wax to the bretherhede. 
Ejiglish Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 4. 
In May and lune they plant their fields, and Hue most 
of Accrues, Walnuts, and fish. 
Capt. John Smith, Works, I. 131. 
The deputy sent for Captain Stagg, . . . and took his 
word for his appearance at the next court, which was called 
of purpose. Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 228. 
22f. For. 
And he bi-soujte him of grace as he was Oodes foorme. 
Joseph of Arimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 19. 
Thanne ich knelede on my knees and cryede to hure of 
grace. Piers Plowman (C), iii. 1. 
This man deserues to be endited of pety larceny for pil- 
fring other mens deuises from them & conuerting them to 
his owne vse. Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 212. 
I humbly do desire your grace of pardon. 
Shalt., H. of V., iv. 1. 402. 
He toke leffe of the screffys wyffe, 
And thankyd her of all thyng. 
Robin Hood and the Potter (Child's Ballads, V. 29). 
We had ranged vp and downe more then an houre in 
digging in the earth, looking of stones, herbs, and springs. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 186. 
I blesse thee in his blessed name, 
Whome I of blesse beseech. 
Warner, Albion's England, iv. 22. 
23. With. 
A f alre f elde f ul of folke f onde I there bytwene. 
Piers Plowman (B), Prol., 1. 17. 
Closit horn full clanly in a clere vessell, 
All glyssononde of gold & of gay stonys. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13794. 
Whan thei come to the passage of the forde ther sholde 
ye haue seyn speres perce thourgh sheldes, and many 
knyghtes liggynge in the water, so that the water was all 
reade of blode. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 155. 
Full richely were these lordes serued at soper of wyne 
and vitaile. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 229. 
Besides, for solace of our people, and allurement of the 
Sauages, we were prouided of Musike in good variety. 
Booke ofPrecedence(E. E. T. S. , extra ser.), Forewords, p. iv. 
The number I left were about two hundred, the most in 
health, and prouided of at least ten moneths victual!. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 9. 
Y streets at Gravsend runge of their extreame quarrel- 
ings, crying out one of another, Thou has brought me to 
this! 
Cushman, quoted in Bradford's Plymouth Plantation, p. 38. 
A peace that was full of wrongs and shames. 
Tennyson, Maud, xxviii. 
24. By : noting, after passive verbs, the agent 
or person by whom anything is done : as, he 
was mocked of the wise man (Mat. ii. 16); be- 
loved of the Lord ; seen of men. [Archaic.] 
They were disconflted of the hethen peple. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 24. 
To be worshipfully receiued of the wardeyns and breth- 
ern of the same. English Gilds (E. E. T. 8.), p. 422. 
Stody alwaies to be loved of good men, and seeke nat to 
be hated of the Evell. 
Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.X i. 76. 
Ye haue also this worde Conduict, a French word, but 
well allowed of vs, and long since vsuall. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eug. Poesie, p. 122. 
O, that a lady, of one man refused, 
Should of another therefore be abused ! 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 2. 133. 
I saw many woodden shoes to be solde, which are worn 
onely of the peasants. Coryat, Crudities, I. 64. 
Bold Bobbin and his traine 
Did live unhurt of them. 
True Tale of Robin Hood (Child's Ballads, V. 363). 
The Earl of Morton, Regent of Scotland, tho' a Man of 
great Wisdom and Valour, yet was now so overcome of 
Covetousness, that he grew universally hated. 
Baiter, Chronicles, p. 353. 
And fires unkindled of the skies 
Are glaring round thy altar-stone. 
Whittier, Democracy. 
25. Containing; filled with: as, a pail of milk; 
a basket of flowers. 
Ill give you a pottle of burnt sack to give me recourse 
to him. Shak., M. W. of W., ii. 1. 223. 
Fixed to the opposite wall was a shelf of books. 
Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish, i. 
26. Over : used after words indicating superi- 
ority or advantage : as, to have the start of a 
rival ; to get the best of an opponent. 
" It is I who have brought you into this strait," he [Ed- 
ward I.] said to his thirsty fellow-soldiers, "and I will have 
no advantage o/you in meat or in drink." 
J. R. Oreen, Short Hist. Eng., p. 202. 
27. With verbal forms, a redundant use, be- 
tween transitive verbs and their objects. 
That any freike vpon feld of so f ele yeres 
So mightely with mayn shuld marre of his fos 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 9009. 
When Christ in person was preaching, and working of 
miracles. Donne, Sermon!, v. 
Prophesying their fall in a year or two, and making and 
executing of severe laws to bring it to pass. 
Penn, Rise and Progress oi Quakers, ii. 
4088 
28. With verbal nouns, or nouns derived from 
verbs, forming an objective (rarely a subjec- 
tive) genitive phrase: as, "The Taming of the 
Shrew"; the hunting o/the hare. 
This comes too near the praising of myself. 
Shak., M. of V., iii. 4. 22. 
[Of before a possessive, usually pronoun (but also noun- 
case), forms a peculiar idiomatic phrase, in which the pos- 
sessive has virtually the value of an objective case : e. g., 
a friend of mine (literally, of or among my friends) = a 
friend of me, one of my friends; a cousin of my wife's; etc. 
Ye shull go take youre horse and ride to the ende of this 
launde in a valey where ye shull flnde a place of myn. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), UL 684. 
Dear to Arthur was that hall of ours. 
Tennyson, Holy Grail.] 
Of itself. See itself. 
oft (ov), adv. [ME. of, of and off not being dis- 
tinguished in ME.] Off. 
Clement the coblere cast of his cloke, 
And atte new faire he uempned it to selle. 
Piers Plowman (B), v. 328. 
This flcrse Arcite hath of his helm ydon. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1818. 
He hadde grete feer, and douted lesse she passed er he 
myght hir salewe [salute], and dide of [doffed] his helme of 
his heed for to se hir more clerly. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 694. 
And be-gonne a-gein the stour so grete, that half amyle 
of men myght heere the noyse. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 216. 
Powhatan being 30 myles of, was presently sent for. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 194. 
0. F. An abbreviation of Old French. 
of- 1 . [ME. of-, < AS. of- = OS. of-, etc., being 
the prep, and adv. of in comp., noting either 
literal separation, 'off,' etc. (now off-), or as an 
inseparable prefix, an intensive, now obsolete.] 
A prefix, being of, off, in composition. See ety- 
mology. 
of-' 2 . An assimilated form of the prefix oo- be- 
fore /-. See ob-. 
ofbit (of 'bit), . [Prop, offbit (so called from 
the form of the root), < off + bit, pp.] The 
devil's-bit, Scabiosa succisa. See deviVs-bit (a). 
ofcomet (of'kum), n. [ME. (in mod. form off- 
come, which is actually used in another sense), 
< of, mod. E. off, + come.'] See the quotation. 
But we have purchased this convenient word [income] by 
the sacrifice of another, equally expressive, though more 
restricted in use, and belonging to the Scandinavian side 
of English. I refer to ofcome, employed by old English 
writers in the sense of produce rather than product, though 
sometimes synonymously with the more modern income. 
G. P. Marsh, Lects. on Eng. Lang., xii. 
ofdradt, . A Middle English form of adrcad 2 . 
The stones beoth of suche grace 
That thu ne schalt in none place 
Of none dilutes boon ofdrad 
Ne on bataille beon amad. 
King Horn (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 573. 
oferM, prep, and adv. An early Middle English 
form of over. 
Ofer 2 t, Oferret, adv. Middle English forms of 
afar. 
To all the prouyns thai apperit and pertis ofer 
With mekyll solas to se in mony syde londis. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1642. 
Beholde also how his modire and alle his frendes stand 
alle o-ferre. MS. Lincoln A. i. 17, f. 181. (HalliweU.) 
off (of), adv. and prep. [< ME. off, of: same as 
of, prep.: see o/.] I. adv. 1. At a point more 
or less distant ; away. 
The publican, standing afar of, would not lift up so much 
as his eyes unto heaven. Luke xviii. 13. 
West of this forest, scarcely o/a mile, 
In goodly form comes on the enemy. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 19. 
He [the King of Denmark] was at Reinsburg, some two 
days Journey of, at a Richsadgh, an Assembly that corre- 
sponds to our Parliament. Howell, Letters, I. vi. 1. 
2. Nattt. : (a) Away ; clear (as from the land, a 
danger, etc.): opposed to on, on to, or toward. 
Then the soldiers out off the ropes of the boat and let 
her fall off. Acts xxvii. 32. 
I would I had 
A convoy too, to bring me safe of. 
Beau, and Fl., Thierry and Theodoret, Iv. 2. 
The Wind is commonly of from the Land, except in the 
Night, when the Land- Wind comes more from the West. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 109. 
(6) Away (as from the wind) : opposed to close, 
near, or up : as, to keep a ship off a point or 
two. 
Set her two courses : off to sea again ; lay her off. 
Shak., Tempest, i. 1. 54. 
John . . . called out to the mate to keep the vessel off 
and haul down the staysail. 
R. a. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 32. 
3. Away; quite away (expressing motion, or 
the act of departure or removal); to a distance ; 
in such a manner as to drive or keep away; in 
Off 
another direction (opposed to toward): as, he 
ran off; to beat o^fan enemy; to stave o/Tbank- 
ruptcy; to wave off an intruder; to put off the 
evil day; to head o_^a danger; to choke off in- 
quiry; to laugh off an accusation; to look off. 
Let 's off; it is unsafe to be near Jove 
When he begins to thunder. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, i. 2. 
If you get but once handsomely off, you are made ever 
after. Howell, Letters, ii. 14. 
His wounded men he first sends off to shore, 
Never till now unwilling to obey. 
Dryden, Annus Mirabilis, st. 74. 
The hero or patron in a libel is but a scavenger to carry 
o/the dirt. Steele, Taller, No. 92. 
We laugh it off, and do not weigh this subjection to wo- 
men with that seriousness which so important a circum- 
stance deserves. Steele, Spectator, No. 510. 
All men should look towards God, but the priest should 
never look off tram God ; and at the sacrament every man 
is a priest. Donne, Sermons, iv. 
Look off, let not thy optics be 
Abus'd : thou see'st not what thou should'st. 
Quarles, Emblems, ii. 6. 
4. Away from a certain position, connection, 
attachment, or relation ; away by physical re- 
moval or separation : as, to cut, pare, clip, peel, 
pull, strip, or tear off; to take ozone's hat; to 
mark off the distance ; to shake off a drowsy 
feeling. 
Off goes his bonnet. Shak., Rich. II., i. 4. 81. 
Just as Christian came up with the Cross, his Burden 
loosed from off Us shoulders, and fell from off his back. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 109. 
The world that time and sense have known 
Falls o/Tand leaves us God alone. 
Whittier, The Meeting. 
His [Emerson's] thoughts slip on and off their light 
rhythmic robes just as the mood takes him. 
0. W. Holmes, Emerson, xiv. 
[In this sense often used with ellipsis of the verb (go, get^ 
take, etc.), and often with with following. 
Offu-ith his guilty head ! Shak., 3 Hen. VI., v. 5. 3. 
Thou mightst as reasonably bid me off uiih my coat as 
my hat. I will offinth neither in thy presence. 
A. E. Barr, Friend Olivia, v.] 
5. In such a way as to interrupt continuity or 
progress ; so as to stop or cause a discontinu- 
ance: as, to break off negotiations; to leave off 
work ; to turn off the gas. Hence, after a substan- 
tive verb, with some such verb as break, declare, etc., un- 
derstood, discontinued ; interrupted ; postponed : as, the 
match is off for the present ; the bargain is of. 
Man. But have you faith 
That he will hold his bargain ? 
Wit. O dear sir ! 
He will not off on 't ; fear him not : I know him. 
B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, i. 3. 
We have been making peace lately, but I think it is off 
again. Walpole, Letters, II. 26. 
Oh, Maria! child what! is the whole affair off between 
you and Charles? Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
It is hardly probable that my knowledge as to when the 
current was on or of would suffice to explain his success. 
Proc. Soe. Psych. Jtesearch, II. 66. 
Young men beginning life try to start where their fa- 
thers left off. Set. Amer., N. S., LIX. 213. 
6. Away; in such a manner as to be or become 
abated or diminished: as, the fever began to 
pass off; the demand has fallen off. 7. Quite 
to the end; so as to finish; utterly; to exhaus- 
tion or extermination : an intensive: as, to kill 
off vermin ; to drain off a swamp. 
Drink off ibis potion. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 337. 
8. Forthwith; offhand: as, to rattle off a story; 
to dash off a string of verses Either off or on 
either remotely or directly ; either one way or the other. 
The questions no ways touch upon puritanism, either off 
or on. Bp. Sanderson. 
Off and on, sometimes on and off. (o) With interruptions 
and resumption; at intervals; now and then; occasion- 
ally ; irregularly : as, I have resided in this neighborhood 
of and on for ten years. 
For my part, the sea cannot drown me ; I swam, ere I 
could recover the shore, five and thirty leagues offandon. 
Shale., Tempest, iii. 2. 17. 
I worked for four or five years, off and on, at this place. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 171. 
(6) Naut., on alternate tacks, now toward and now away 
from the land ; toaudfro. Neither Off nor on. Seeoni. 
To back, bear, beat, break, come, fly, get, give, go, 
nang, pass, set, swear, take, etc., off. See the verts. 
II. prep. 1. From; distant from. 
Within a mile o' th l town, forsooth, 
And two mile o/thls place. 
Middleton, The Widow, iU. 2. 
I rode alone, a great way off my men. 
A. C. Sicinburne, Laus Veneris. 
2. Not on (a street or highway) ; leading from 
or out of. 
Watling street, Bow Lane, Old Change, and other thor- 
oughfares off Cheapside and Cornhill. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, II. 201. 
