Middle English Dictionary Entry
of conj.(1)
Entry Info
| Forms | of conj.(1) Also oft. |
| Etymology | From oth prep. & conj. It is difficult to find any clear evidence in ME of the substitution of v and f for voiced and voiceless th; cp. MnE dial. wiv, muver, mouf, nuffin, etc., and 16th-cent. place name variants like Reddryff (Rotherhithe, Sur.) and Tingrif, (Tingrith, Bedf.). Sporadic examples of ME thurth & thurf for thurgh, of notht & noft for nought, etc., suggest that th, f, and gh were all sufficiently similar to be occasionally confused. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Until, till; (b) as prep.: until (a time, an action).
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)9/25 : Nim þann anne linnenne clað..and byn[d] hine syðþan twyfeald uppe þan heafode, of se claþ driȝe beon.
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)39/16 : Hy swyþust hyre spatl utspiwaþ, of hy fulle beoþ.
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)41/30 : Nim cuppan fulle wæteres and sealtes and meng swyþe togadere, of þæt sealt moltan sy.
- a1225(?OE) Vsp.A.Hom.(Vsp A.22)231 : Him to lang ne þuhte to abiden of fe [read: se] laford to þe none inn come. Gief he fend were, me sceolden..do hine into þiesternesse and þer abide of all his ȝeferen were ȝegadered.
b
- a1225(?OE) Vsp.A.Hom.(Vsp A.22)237 : Þe[r] efter come..þe hafedmen þe nu beoð in halie cyrce and wrðeð of domes deȝe.
- a1225(?OE) Vsp.A.Hom.(Vsp A.22)239 : Þus hit hað ibi and is and wrð oft domesdei.
- a1225 Wint.Ben.Rule (Cld D.3)65/11 : Hi on chircan ne beȝ[i]nnan naþer ne sealm ne antiefene, ne redinge ne ræden of [L usque ad; OE oððe] fulre dedbote.