FROM


Meaning of FROM in English

_f(r)əm, _f ə m, |främ, |frəm, _främ preposition

Etymology: Middle English fram, from, from Old English; akin to Old English & Old High German fram, adverb, forth, away, forward, Old Norse frā, preposition, from, fram, adverb, forward, Gothic, preposition, from, Old English faran to travel, go — more at fare

1. — used as a function word to indicate a starting point: as (1) a point or place where an actual physical movement (as of departure, withdrawal, or dropping) has its beginning

he set out from town this morning

held the funeral from the funeral parlor — R.O.Bowen

shrinking from his touch

a fall from a horse

the first pigeon race … ever held from this city — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News

he comes from beyond the sea

came out from under the table

five tanks were shot from under him — Current Biography

(2) something that is taken as a starting point in measuring or reckoning or in a statement of limits

it is 20 miles from here to the nearest town

three years from that day

ready to go home within a fortnight from the operation — Lancet

from five to ten years are needed for the project

from childhood he displayed great ability

frames and trays range from $1 — New York Herald Tribune

(3) the starting or focal point of any activity or movement

will fight you from our beaches and from our ruined homes

looked at me from under her glasses

from one point of view you are right

I speak from the heart

shot straight from the hip

often used with words that express the condition of being suspended or pendent

ornaments hanging from a Christmas tree

2. — used as a function word to indicate (1) the fact or condition of spatial or physical absence, separation, remoteness, or disjunction

an ocean separates America from Europe

the wind was from them

a dunlin, disturbed from its young, creeps along the ground — E.A.Armstrong

— often used, chiefly British, in the phrase from home

seemed to discover a home from home in our house — Adrian Bell

he had been from home … during most of the period mentioned — F.W.Crofts

— also in obs. usage to indicate qualitative remoteness or unlikeness; (2) the act, fact, or condition of removal, withdrawal, abstention, separation, dissent, discrimination, qualification, or differentiation of any kind

the most extensive file … lacks only five numbers from being complete — B.A.Botkin & A.F.Harlow

asked him to refrain from interrupting

exclude a man from membership

he differs from his brother in every particular

purging its abuses from the faith

put his wife from him

set men free from superstition

(3) change or transition from one state or condition to another or replacement of one thing by another

from the defense they sprang to the attack

things go from bad to worse

transformed from wretched serfs into proud freemen

turned from their books to the grim business of war

3. — used as a function word to indicate the source or original or moving force of something: as (1) the source, cause, means, or ultimate agent of an action or condition

all his misfortunes spring from that piece of folly

you will hear from my lawyer

he holds his appointment from the trustees

smoking a cigarette from one hand and sipping chocolate ice-cream soda … from the other — Frances Perkins

emissaries from a barbarian king

these lakes … are, from their low temperature, entirely destitute of fish — Encyc. Americana

tea time when visits from her family usually occurred — Osbert Lancaster

(2) the ground, reason, or basis (as of a judgment, belief, finding, or action)

its composition appears to be uncertain from the physical facts — W.E.Swinton

cannot generalize from the state of the weather in Great Britain and Ireland — Geoffrey Jefferson

negotiations from strength

(3) descent, ancestry, or birth

descended from a long line of kings

two colts from the same dam

(4) the place of origin, source, or derivation of a material or immaterial thing

all creation is from conflict — W.B.Yeats

assigned two chapters from the text

took a dime from his pocket

(5) the model or original (as of a work of art)

painting done directly from nature

the church was built from his plans

also used to indicate a person or thing that another is named for

the name was soon changed to Jamaica, from the Jameco Indians, the aboriginal settlers — American Guide Series: New York City

(6) the fact or condition of being suspended or pendent

wear it from the principal masthead when the yacht is in commission — Peter Heaton

(7) selection out of a number of individuals

chosen from a large number of competitors

(8) the fact or condition of being native to or a resident of

people from Ohio are often call Buckeyes

- from … to …

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.