of (prep.)
Old English of, unstressed form of æf (prep., adv.) “away, away from,” from Proto-Germanic *af (source also of Old Norse af, Old Frisian af, of “of,” Dutch af “off, down,” German ab “off, from, down”), from PIE root *apo- “off, away.” Compare off (prep.).
The primary sense in Old English still was “away,” but it shifted in Middle English with use of the word to translate Latin de, ex, and especially Old French 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]
Also by 1837 of in print could be a non-standard or dialectal representation of have as pronounced in unstressed positions (could of, must of, etc.)
Related entries & more
“the more distant part of the open sea as seen from the shore,” 1620s, a nautical term, from off (q.v.) + noun suffix -ing (1). Outside sea-jargon, it survives in the phrase in the offing (1779) which originally meant “in the distant future;” the modern sense of “impending” developed by 1914.
assimilated form of ob- before -f-.
by c. 1200 as an emphatic form of Old English of (see of), employed in the adverbial use of that word. The prepositional meaning “away from” and the adjectival sense of “farther” were not firmly fixed in this variant until 17c., but once they were they left the original of with the transferred and weakened senses of the word. Meaning “not working” is from 1861.
Off the cuff “extemporaneously, without preparation” (1938) is from the notion of speaking from notes written in haste on one’s shirt cuffs. In reference to clothing, off the rack (adj.) “not tailored, not made to individual requirements, ready-made” is by 1963, on the notion of buying it from the rack of a clothing store; off the record “not to be publicly disclosed” is from 1933; off the wall “crazy” is 1968, probably from the notion of a lunatic “bouncing off the walls” or else in reference to carom shots in squash, handball, etc.
early 14c., offenden, “to disobey or sin against (a person, human or divine),” a sense now obsolete, from Old French ofendre “hit, attack, injure; sin against; antagonize, excite to anger” and directly from Latin offendere “to hit, thrust, or strike against,” figuratively “to stumble, commit a fault, displease, trespass against, provoke,” from assimilated form of ob “in front of against” (see ob-) + -fendere “to strike” (found only in compounds; see defend).
Meaning “to violate (a law), to make a moral false step, to commit a crime” is from late 14c. Meaning “to wound the feelings of, displease, give displeasure to, excite personal annoyance or resentment in” is from late 14c. The literal sense of “to attack, assail” (late 14c.) is obsolete, but it is somewhat preserved in offense and offensive. Related: Offended; offending; offendedness.
late 14c., “hurt, harm, injury, pain;” also “breach of the law, wrongdoing; transgression against God, sin;” also “the causing of displeasure, act or fact of wounding the feelings of or displeasing another;” also “displeasure, annoyance, umbrage,” from Old French ofense “offense, insult, wrong” (13c.) and directly from Latin offensa “an offense, injury, affront, crime,” literally “a striking against,” noun use of fem. past participle of offendere (see offend).
Meaning “action of attacking” is from c. 1400. Sporting sense of “the team on the attack, at bat, with the ball,” etc. is by 1894.
Middle English offeren, from Old English ofrian “to bring or put forward, to make a presentation, to show, exhibit;” also “to sacrifice, present something solemnly or worshipfully as a religious sacrifice, bring an oblation,” from Latin offerre “to present, bestow, bring before” (in Late Latin “to present in worship”), from assimilated form of ob “to” (see ob-) + ferre “to bring, to carry,” from PIE root *bher- (1) “to carry,” also “to bear children.”
From early 15c. as “to present (something) for acceptance or rejection.” From 1530s as “to attempt to do.” Commercial sense of “to expose for sale” is from 1630s. The Latin word was borrowed widely in Germanic languages in the religious sense via Christianity: Old Frisian offria, Middle Dutch offeren, Old Norse offra. The non-religious senses in English were from or reinforced by sense of Old French offrir “to offer,” which is from Latin offerre. Related: Offered; offering.
also offhand, 1690s, “at once, straightway,” from off (prep.) + hand (n.). Probably originally in reference to shooting “from the hand,” without a rest or support. Hence, of speech or action, “without deliberation, unpremeditated” (1719). Related: Off-handed; off-handedly.
early 14c., “minor ecclesiastical court officer” (mid-13c. as a surname), from Old French oficial “law officer; bishop’s representative” (12c.) and directly from Late Latin officialis “attendant to a magistrate, public official,” noun use of officialis (adj.) “of or belonging to duty, service, or office” (see official (adj.)). From mid-14c. as “a domestic retainer in a household;” the meaning “person in charge of some public work or duty, one holding a civil appointment” is recorded from 1550s.
of medicines, “kept in stock by a druggist,” 1660s, from French officinal, from Medieval Latin officinalis, literally “of or belonging in an officina,” a storeroom (of a monastery) for medicines and necessaries, in classical Latin “workshop, manufactory, laboratory,” contraction of *opificina, from opifex (genitive opificis) “worker, workman, maker, doer” (from opus “work,” from PIE root *op- “to work, produce in abundance”) + -fex, -ficis “maker, one who does,” from facere “to do, make” (from PIE root *dhe- “to set, put”). Related: Officinally.
Special Thanks to O Great Mother
Imebay.com
Source: O
etymonline.com
oxford dictionary