English Dictionary: of late | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for of late | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Late \Late\, adv. [AS. late. See {Late}, a.] 1. After the usual or proper time, or the time appointed; after delay; as, he arrived late; -- opposed to {early}. 2. Not long ago; lately. 3. Far in the night, day, week, or other particular period; as, to lie abed late; to sit up late at night. {Of late}, in time not long past, or near the present; lately; as, the practice is of late uncommon. {Too late}, after the proper or available time; when the time or opportunity is past. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
9. Denoting the agent, or person by whom, or thing by which, anything is, or is done; by. And told to her of [by] some. --Chaucer. He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. --Luke iv. 15. [Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil. --Luke iv. 1, 2. Note: The use of the word in this sense, as applied to persons, is nearly obsolete. 10. Denoting relation to place or time; belonging to, or connected with; as, men of Athens; the people of the Middle Ages; in the days of Herod. 11. Denoting passage from one state to another; from. [Obs.] [bd]O miserable of happy.[b8] --Milton. 12. During; in the course of. Not be seen to wink of all the day. --Shak. My custom always of the afternoon. --Shak. Note: Of may be used in a subjective or an objective sense. [bd]The love of God[b8] may mean, our love for God, or God's love for us. Note: From is the primary sense of this preposition; a sense retained in off, the same word differently written for distinction. But this radical sense disappears in most of its application; as, a man of genius; a man of rare endowments; a fossil of a red color, or of an hexagonal figure; he lost all hope of relief; an affair of the cabinet; he is a man of decayed fortune; what is the price of corn? In these and similar phrases, of denotes property or possession, or a relation of some sort involving connection. These applications, however all proceeded from the same primary sense. That which proceeds from, or is produced by, a person or thing, either has had, or still has, a close connection with the same; and hence the word was applied to cases of mere connection, not involving at all the idea of separation. {Of consequence}, of importance, value, or influence. {Of late}, recently; in time not long past. {Of old}, formerly; in time long past. {Of one's self}, by one's self; without help or prompting; spontaneously. Why, knows not Montague, that of itself England is safe, if true within itself? --Shak. |