prep. connecting a noun (often a verbal noun) or pronoun with a preceding noun, adjective, adverb, or verb, expressing a wide range of relations broadly describable as follows:
1. origin, cause, or authorship (paintings of Turner; people of Rome; died of malnutrition).
2 the material or substance constituting or identifying a thing (a house of cards; was built of bricks).
3 belonging, connection, or possession (a thing of the past; articles of clothing; the head of the business; the tip of the iceberg).
4 identity or close relation (the city of Rome; a pound of apples; a fool of a man).
5 removal, separation, or privation (north of the city; got rid of them; robbed us of {pound}1000).
6 reference, direction, or respect (beware of the dog; suspected of lying; very good of you; short of money; the selling of goods).
7 objective relation (love of music; in search of peace).
8 partition, classification, or inclusion (no more of that; part of the story; a friend of mine; this sort of book; some of us will stay).
9 description, quality, or condition (the hour of prayer; a person of tact; a girl of ten; on the point of leaving).
10 US time in relation to the following hour (a quarter of three).
Phrases and idioms:
be of possess intrinsically; give rise to (is of great interest). of all designating the (nominally) least likely or expected example (you of all people!). of all the nerve (or cheek etc.) an exclamation of indignation at a person's impudence etc. of an evening (or morning etc.) colloq.
1. on most evenings (or mornings etc.).
2 at some time in the evenings (or mornings etc.). of late recently. of old formerly; long ago.
Etymology: OE, unaccented form of {aelig}f, f. Gmc