From

prep. (adv., conj.). Forms: 1–6 fram, 3–4 south. vram, vrom, 4 fromme, 5 frome, 1– from. [OE. fram, frǫm, = OS. fram, OHG. fram (MHG. vram), Goth. fram, ON. frá (see FRO). The primary sense is ‘forward’; cf. ON. fram(m (Sw. fram, Da. frem):—*framz = Goth. framis (comparative) ‘forward,’ adv.; cf. also the adj. OE. fram, from, ON. fram-r forward, valiant; further cognates are cited under FORME, FRAME. From the sense ‘forward’ were developed those of ‘onward,’ ‘on the way,’ ‘away,’ whence the transition to the prepositional use is easy.]

  A.  prep.

  1.  Denoting departure or moving away: governing a sb. which indicates a point of departure or place whence motion takes place. Also with advbs. prefixed (e.g., away, down, out).

O. E. Chron., an. 874. Her for se here from Lindesse to Hreopedune.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 79. A mon lihte from ierusalem in to ierico.

1297.  R. Glouc. (1724), 325. Hardeknout hys broþer þo þen wey sone nome Fram Denemarch in to Engelond.

c. 1320.  Sir Tristr., 349. Out of hauen þai rade … Fram þe brimes brade Gun flete.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 128. She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle.

1563.  W. Fulke, Meteors (1640), 4. Lifteth them up very high from the earth into the aire, where they are turned into divers kinds of Meteors.

1611.  Bible, Gen. iv. 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the East of Eden.

1660.  Barrow, Euclid, III. Prop. xxviii. From the centers G, H draw GA, GC, and HD, HF.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe, I. iv. I came down from my apartment in the tree.

1762.  Goldsm., Cit. W., xiii. I am just returned from Westminster Abbey.

1811.  L. M. Hawkins, The Countess and Gertrude, IV. lxxxv. 328. I should chuse to have her buried from her own house.

1838.  Arnold, Hist. Rome, I. xi. 200. Presently he knew his mother, who was walking at the head of the train; and then he could not contain himself, but leapt down from his seat, and ran to meet her.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 399, Phaedo, Introduction. During the voyage of the sacred ship to and from Delos, which has occupied thirty days, the execution of Socrates has been deferred.

  b.  from … to, used with repeated sb. to denote succession, change of place. Similarly in proverb. phr. from post to pillar, and the like.

1530.  Palsgr., 818/2. From towne to towne, de ville en ville.

1563.  W. Fulke, Meteors (1640), 24. The smal or little Thunder is when the Exhalation is driven from side to side of that cloud making a noise.

1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut., c. 615. Certaine others of the faithfull whome God tossed from post to piller.

1583.  Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. (1882), 27. To beg their breade from doore to doore.

1631.  J. Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments, 262. How often the body of Saint Augustine was tost from porch to pillar.

1821.  Keats, Lamia, 27. From vale to vale, from wood to wood, he flew.

1849.  Sir J. Stephen, Eccl. Biog. (1850), I. 215. The Mahomedans, it was said, had effected a landing within six leagues of the city, and Xavier’s name was repeated from mouth to mouth with cries of vengeance.

  2.  Indicating the starting-point or the first considered of two boundaries adopted in defining a given extent in space.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 5. Ac se ȝeleafa sceal beon fram eorþan up to heofonum areaht.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 179. Þe sæ is biter, swo is ec þis woreld fram ende to oþer.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 2. Techinge þe anotomie of alle lymes from þe heed to þe foot.

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Sam. xxiv. 15. So that there dyed of the people from Dan vnto Berseha, thre score and ten thousande men.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., III. i. 3. Full many Countreyes they did overronne, From the uprising to the setting Sunne.

1717.  Gay, Fables, Barley-Mow & Dunghill, 2. How many saucy airs we meet, From Temple-bar to Aldgate-street!

1806–7.  J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), VI. Miseries Stage Coaches, iv. The whole machine straining and groaning under its cargo, from the box to the basket.

1845.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 16. Tours was comprehended in Neustria, which, under Chilperic, extended from the Meuse almost to the present southern limits of France.

1884.  Illustr. Lond. News, 20 Dec., 603/1. From title to colophon all is sound and whole.

  b.  Indicating the starting-point in a series or statement of limits.

  Expressions like ‘from four to ten’ are treated grammatically as simple numerals, and may qualify the subject of a sentence, or the obj. of a vb. or prep.

c. 1000.  Ælfric, Gen. vi. 7. Ic adiliȝe þone mannan … fram þære eorðan ansine fram þam men oð þa nytenu, fram þam slincendum oð þa fuȝelas.

1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 25 b. From y^e begynnynge to y^e ende.

1662.  Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., I. vi. § 3. The Sicyonian Kingdom … from which Varro began his history.

1699.  Dampier, Voy., II. I. 75. They are rowed with from 16 or 20 to 24 Oars.

1789.  G. White, Selborne (1813), I. xviii. 286. The swallow lays from four to six white eggs.

1866.  Crump, Banking, ix. 207. Many bankers are always below their authorised issues by from 25 to 50 per cent., some even more.

1872.  Ellacombe, Ch. Bells Devon, ix. 269. Alphabet Bells.—The whole alphabet, or a portion of it, is not unfrequently met with as a bell inscription, from the fourteenth or fifteenth, to the seventeenth century.

  3.  Indicating a starting-point in time, or the beginning of a period. (The date from which one reckons may be either inclusive or exclusive). Also in idiomatic phrases like from a child = from (his) childhood (cf. Gr. ἐκ παιδός, ἐκ παίδων).

c. 1050.  Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia (1885), VIII. 300. Fram easter tide þæt he eft cume.

1340.  Ayenb., 12. Alle þon þet uram þe ginningge of þe wordle storue in 20þ & guode byleaue.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Prol., 324. In termes hadde he caas and domes alle, That from the tyme of king William were falle.

1535.  Coverdale, Neh. xiii. 21. From that tyme forth came they nomore on the Sabbath.

1579.  Fulke, Confut. Sanders, 593. Images were vsed from the Apostles, and Christ him selfe.

1611.  Bible, 2 Tim. iii. 15. From a childe thou hast knowen the holy Scriptures.

a. 1616.  Beaum. & Fl., Thierry & Theod., V. i. We are thieves from cur cradles, and will die so.

1748.  Smollett, Rod. Rand. (1792), II. 275. Here I absconded from five o’clock in the morning to six in the evening.

1795.  Gentl. Mag., 545/1. The scenes to which we have been accustomed from our infancy.

1816.  Keatinge, Trav. (1817), I. 99. An unaltered smile, and an inflexible seat, were preserved from first to last.

1836.  W. Irving, Astoria, III. xxxi. 259. A succession of adverse circumstances and cross purposes, however, beset it almost from the outset; some of them, in fact, arising from neglect of the orders and instructions of Mr. Astor.

1844.  Regul. & Ord. Army, 3. Officers serving on the Staff in the capacity of Brigadier-Generals are to take Rank and Precedence from their Commissions as Colonels in the Army, not from the dates of their Appointments as Brigadiers.

1848.  C. Brontë, J. Eyre, xxxvi. I knew him from a boy.

1883.  Law Rep., 10, Appeal Cases, 379. The gate was erected in 1846, and the public were effectually excluded from that year.

  b.  from … to, used with repeated sb. to denote succession or recurrence at regular intervals.

c. 1325.  Lai le Freine, 229. This Frein thriued fram yer to yer.

1530.  Palsgr., 808/2. From hour to hour, de heure en heure.

1600.  Shaks., As You Like It, II. vii. 26.

1611.  Bolton, Stat. Irel., 37 (an. 5 Edw. IV.). On paine of two pence a man from moneth to other.

1675.  trans. Machiavelli’s Prince (Rtldg., 1883). 285. Having received a new policy from three months to three months, the pensioners and gentlemen go then to the receivers of the respective provinces where they live, and are paid immediately.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 63 ¶ 1. The Thoughts will be rising of themselves from time to time.

1790.  Cowper, Stanzas for 1790. He who sits from day to day Where the prisoned lark is hung.

1895.  A. F. Warr, in Law Times, XCIX. 547/1. The … examination is in special books set from time to time.

  4.  Indicating a place or object which is left at a distance or left behind by an object which withdraws or goes away. Formerly also with ellipsis of verb.

O. E. Chron., an. 755. Ond him cyþdon þæt hiera mæȝas him mid wæron, þa þe him from noldon.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 47. Þonne flyhþ þæt deofol fram us.

c. 1290.  Beket, 340, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 116. Sire henri, þe kingus sone … bi-lefde euere in is warde, fram him nolde he nouȝt.

a. 1300.  Cursor Mundi, 20308 (Br. Mus. Add. MS.). Hit rewiþ me, that I schal—Iohan—parte fram þee.

1579.  Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Aug., 107. Yet should thilke lasse not from my thought.

1593.  Shaks., 3 Hen. VI., V. iv. 21. We will not from the Helme, to sit and weepe.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 49. And, spurring from the Fight, confess their Fear.

1709.  Swift & Addison, Tatler, No. 32, ¶ 2. She shrinks from the Touch like a Sensitive Plant.

1838.  Thirlwall, Greece, II. 304. He withdrew from the council unobserved.

1843.  Fraser’s Mag., XXVIII. 714. I recoiled from the murderous instrument.

  b.  Indicating a place or object which is left on one side by an object which deflects or turns away. † Rarely used simply = ‘averted from.’

1597.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. XXX. § 1. Whether it be a thing allowable or no that the minister should … turn his face at any time from the people.

a. 1616.  Beaum. & Fl., Knt. of Malta, I. i. Why speak’st thou from me?

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., VII. § 2. Mankind are generally averse from thinking though apt enough to entertain Discourse either in themselves or others: the Effect whereof is, that their Minds are rather stored with Names than Ideas, the husk of Science rather than the thing.

1812–6.  J. Smith, The Panorama of Science and Art, I. 422. As the attractive power of different substances are proportionate to their densities, we discover at once the reason the ray being bent towards the perpendicular on entering another medium of greater density, and from the perpendicular, on entering a medium of less density.

  5.  Denoting (statically) distance, absence, remoteness: a. after words indicative of the extent of distance, also after away, absent, apart, etc.

O. E. Chron., an. 893. Hi tuȝon up hiora scipu oþ þone weald .iiii., iv mila fram þæm muþan ute weardum.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 43. Sæȝde … þæt he ȝesawe naht feor from þæs mæssepreostes sidan … oþerne ealdne man.

1340.  Ayenb., 270. Lyȝt ne is naȝt awaye: ac ye byeþ awaye uram lyȝte.

1506.  Pylgrym. Sir R. Guylforde (Camden), 47. Sydon is but right lytell from y^e citye of Tyre.

1588.  J. Udall, Demonstr. Discip. (Arb.), 26. How can he feed them from whom he is absent. Ibid., 27. If the priests might not dwell farre from the temple, then may not ministers be nonresident.

1653.  Holcroft, Procopius, Gothick Wars, iv. 124. The Ocean being far distant from these mountains, the land behind them on both sides must necessarily be European.

1766.  Goldsm., Vic. W., xxv. We were now got from my late dwelling about two miles.

1820.  Keats, Eve St. Agnes, xvi.

1838.  Arnold, Hist. Rome, I. xii. 211. Veii lay about ten miles from Rome.

1847–9.  Helps, Friends in C., Ser. I. (1851), I. 179. I am far from saying that merit is sufficiently looked out for.

  b.  used simply = away from, apart from, absent from, etc. Now only in from home. (Cf. 8 b.)

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 10413 (Fairf.). When he hym held from home.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, IV. 738 (766), What is Criseyde worth, from Troilus?

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 206. I dwell from the citee in subbarbes.

1571.  in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 339. Noe freman of the Cytie, beyng baker or els, and dwelling w^thin this Cytie francheses or liberties of the same, shall grynde from the said milles any kynd of grayne or corne w^thout licence of the stuards of the mylles fyrst had or obteyned.

1584.  R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., XV. x. (1886), 341. Go to a faire parlor or chamber … and from people nine daies.

1607.  Tourneur, Revenger’s Trag., II. ii. Wks. 1878, II. 64.

1738.  Johnson, London, 225. Sign your will, before you sup from home.

1761.  Mrs. F. Sheridan, Sidney Bidulph, I. 318. Whatever your designs may be, it will be less to my dishonour, if you prosecute them from under your husband’s roof. Ibid., II. 118. Mrs. Arnold was from under her husband’s protection.

1796.  Moser, Hermit of Caucasus, I. 238. He was continually from home, running from one house to another.

1802.  Mrs. E. Parsons, Myst. Visit, IV. 203. Georgina she could not bear a moment from her sight.

  6.  Denoting removal, abstraction, separation, expulsion, exclusion, or the like: a. Governing a sb. or pron. expressing a concrete object.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 67. Maria hire ȝeceas þone betstan dæl, se ne bið næfre fram hire afyrred.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xxv. 32. Swa swa se hyrde asyndraþ ða scep fram tyccenum.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 446. For to saue thi soule fram Sathan thin enemy.

1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy. Turkie, I. xviii. 21. Sodainly changed his good maners and vertues into most vitious tyrannies, which gaue occasion vnto a brother of his to take away his life from him.

1590.  C. S., Right Relig., 26. From the determination of a counsell there can be no appellation.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., Epilogue, 9.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 513. Some bending Valley … Clos’d from the Sun, but open to the Wind.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 194. There hungry dogs from hungry children steal.

1821.  Keats, Isabella, xvii. Paled in and vineyarded from beggar-spies.

1841.  Elphinstone, Hist. Ind., I. 439. The narrow tract … separated from Mékrán … by the range of hills which form Cape Arboo.

1891.  Law Times, XCII. 18/2. Will there be an appeal to the Court of Appeal from a refusal to certify?

  b.  Denoting privation, separation, abstention, freedom, deliverance, etc. (from a state, condition, action, etc.).

c. 950.  Lindisfarne Gospels, Matt. vi. 13. Ah ȝefriȝ usich from yfle.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 25. Men … nellaþ ablinnan from heora unrihtum ȝestreonum.

1340.  Ayenb., 86. Þe guodemen … þet god heþ yvryd … uram þe þreldome of þe dyeule.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 70. Noon oþer wey þat myȝte save þe sike man from deeþ.

c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., V. xiii. 553. Refreynyng from yuel.

1548–9.  (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany. From battaile and murther, & from sodain death: Good lorde deliuer us.

1576.  A. Fleming, A Panoplie of Epistles, 400, note. Greedines of vayne glorie an impediment from keeping due order.

1647.  Ward, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America, 51. To keep their Kings from devillizing.

1710.  Steele, Tatler, No. 176 ¶ 1. After a little Ease from the raging Pain caused by … an aking Tooth.

1732.  Berkeley, Alciphr., I. § 3. Lysicles cou’d hardly refrain from laughing.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 507. When thy rich master seems from trouble free.

1845.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 18. He turned all his defence to vindicate himself from the charge of treason.

1847–9.  Helps, Friends in C., Ser. I. (1851), I. 206. I did not attempt to dissuade Milverton from his purpose.

  † c.  followed by inf. instead of the vbl. sb. Obs.

1591.  Spenser, Ruins of Time, 429. Not to haue been dipt in Lethe lake Could saue the sonne of Thetis from to die. Ibid. (1596), F. Q., IV. v. 7. He sau’d the victour from fordonne.

  7.  Indicating a state, condition, etc., which is abandoned or which is changed for another. Often used before an adj., or a sb. that denotes a person, as if with ellipsis of being.

1340.  Ayenb., 7. Oure lhord aros uram dyaþe to lyue þane zonday.

1399.  Langl., Rich. Redeles, I. 5. ȝe were lyghtlich y-lyfte ffrom that ȝou leef thouȝte And ffrom ȝoure willffull werkis ȝoure will was chaungid.

1595.  Shaks., John, V. iv. 25.

1641.  Ariana, 328. From a slave she became to be a Princesse.

1700.  Dryden, Palamon & Arcite, III. 749.

1741.  Richardson, Pamela, I. xxii. 55. Well, Pamela, you have made our Master, from the sweetest-temper’d Gentleman in the World, one of the most peevish.

1771.  Goldsm., Hist. Eng., II. 203. From being attacked, the French now in turn became the aggressors.

1823.  F. Clissold, Ascent of Mont Blanc, 23. The western arc of the misty circle kindled, from a rosy to a deep reddening glow, skirting the horizon with a streak of dark fire.

1856.  Froude, Hist. Eng. (1858), I. iv. 312. It became necessary to increase the penalty … from banishment to death.

1870.  Rogers, Hist. Gleanings, Ser. II. 51. They got their demands; from villains they became prosperous and independent yeomen.

1872.  Browning, Fifine, cx. 6. Temples … which tremblingly grew blank From bright.

  8.  Used after words which signify distinction, difference, unlikeness, etc.

  Formerly more widely used than at present; we now say ‘inferior to,’ ‘other than,’ and (usually) ‘foreign to’; but verbs of distinguishing, differing, etc., still take from; so also different (but see that word), difference, distinct, etc.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. Prol. 56. Clotheden hem in copis to ben knowen fram othere.

1553.  Eden, Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.), 15. The Elephant is a beast very docile and apte to be taught, and little inferiour from humaine sense, excellinge all other beastes in fortitude and strength.

a. 1656.  Hales, Tract (1677), 170. Others from themselves.

1828.  Whately, Rhet., I. ii. § 2. Quite foreign from all their experience.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 82. The extreme Puritan was at once known from other men by his gait, his garb, his lank hair, the sour solemnity of his face, the upturned white of his eyes, the nasal twang with which he spoke, and above all, by his peculiar dialect.

1861.  M. Pattison, Ess. (1889), I. 47. The Corporation had its constitution, not materially differing from those of other guilds.

a. 1881.  Rossetti, House of Life, v.

1887.  L. Carroll, Game of Logic, iv. 94. You can’t tell one flower from another, at this distance!

  † b.  used simply to denote qualitative remoteness, unlikeness, incongruity, etc.: = away from, apart or aside from, out of, alien to. From oneself = beside oneself, out of one’s wits. Obs. (Cf. 5 b.)

c. 1050.  Martyrology (Cockayne), 118. Þæt ic for þe sprece from minre ȝecynde.

1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, xvii. 65 (heading). How dydo, knowyng the departyng of eneas, ranne thrugh the cytee of cartage, as a woman disperate, and from herselfe.

1531.  Elyot, The Boke Named the Gouernour, III. xxi. Thou art all inflamed with wrathe. and clene from the pacience which thou so much praysest.

1579.  Fulke, Heskins’ Parl., 58. M. Heskins collections are vaine, and from the authors meaning.

1580.  Sidney, Arcadia, III. (1605), 298. He was quite from himself.

c. 1600.  Shaks., Sonnet cxlvii.

1607.  Tourneur, Revenger’s Trag., V. i. Wks. 1878, 132. O pardon me to call you from your names!

a. 1616.  Beaum. & Fl., Knt. of Malta, III. iv. A very hard thing, Sir, and from my power.

1632.  Massinger, Maid of Hon., III. i. Ast. But this is from the purpose. Rod. To the point then.

a. 1637.  B. Jonson, trans. Horace’s Art Poet., 159. If now the phrase of him that speaks shall flow In sound quite from his fortune [fortunis absona].

  9.  Indicating the place, quarter, etc., whence something comes or is brought or fetched; often = out of; also after words denoting choice, selection, or distinction out of a number or mass of individuals.

1621.  Burton, Anat. Mel., III. ii. VI. i. (1651), 545. I light my Candle from their Torches.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 793. From his Herd he culls, For Slaughter, four the fairest of his Bulls.

1712–4.  Pope, Rape Lock, III. 128. Clarissa drew … A two-edged weapon from her shining case.

1808.  Scott, Marm., v. Introd. 145. Such notes as from the Breton tongue Marie translated.

1838.  Arnold, Hist. Rome, I. vii. 104. She drew a knife from her bosom, and stabbed herself to the heart.

1843.  Fraser’s Mag., XXVIII. 565. Jenny gathers cranberries from the neighbouring wood.

1864.  Law Times, Rep. X. 718/2. A labourer … employed … to dig ballast from a pit.

1879.  Church, Spenser, ii. 29. It is clear that when Spenser appeared in London, he had found out his powers and vocation as a poet. He came from Cambridge, fully conscious of the powerful attraction of the imaginative faculties, conscious of an extraordinary command over the resources of language, and with a singular gift of sensitiveness to the grace and majesty and suggestiveness of sound and rhythm, such as makes a musician.

1885.  Law Times, LXXX. 37/2. The following, extracted respectively from The World and Truth.

1897.  F. Hall, in The Nation (N.Y.), 4 March, LXIV. 163/1. This list I could amplify from my own verbal stores.

  b.  with ellipsis of a verb or participle: = coming from, taken from, etc.

1745.  De Foe’s Eng. Tradesman, xxvi. (1841), I. 266. Bedding, &c., the curtains, suppose of serge, from Taunton and Exeter.

1771.  R. Henry, Hist. Gt. Brit., I. I. vi. 378. The Phœnicians from Cadiz were the only persons who traded to these islands.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 3. Zealous Cavaliers from the country.

1895.  Bookman, Oct., 26/2. The history has been … distorted by stock quotations from the fathers.

  10.  Indicating a place or position where action or motion is originated which extends beyond that place, while the originator remains fixed there (e.g., a place whence a person directs his vision, and fig. a ‘point of view’). Similarly after words which express ‘hanging,’ ‘depending,’ and the like.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., III. v. 228. Jul. Speakest thou from thy heart? Nur. And from my soule too.

1619.  Daniel, To Henry Wriothesly, 42. He … doth from a patience hie Looke onely on the cause [etc.].

1658.  Hist. Q. Christiana’s Progress to Rome, 246. Gay ornaments hanging from the window’s and balcons.

1667.  Milton, P. L., XII. 227. God from the mount of Sinai … will himself … Ordain them laws.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 615. The sultry Dog-star from the Sky Scorch’d Indian Swains.

1771.  R. Henry, Hist. Gt. Brit., I. I. v. 338. Those who fought from chariots.

1801.  Southey, Thalaba, VIII. ix.

1844.  Huc’s Tartary, I. 150. Each of us hung a bag from his shoulders.

1867–76.  G. F. Chambers, Astron., 685. When observations are made from the deck of a ship.

1887.  L. Carroll, Game of Logic, i. § 3. 35. From their point of view they are perfectly right.

  11.  Indicating a person as a more or less distant source of action, esp. as a giver, sender, or the like. In OE. also indicating the agent = by.

971.  Blickl. Hom., 27. Þæt he wære costod from deofle. Ibid., 45. Þonne onfoþ hi from Gode maran mede þonne hi from æniȝum oþrum lacum don.

c. 1205.  Lay., 20. Æfter þan flode þe from drihtene com.

a. 1240.  Ureisun, in Cott. Hom., 195. Uor þere gretunge Þet Gabriel ðe brouhte urom ure heouen kinge.

c. 1489.  Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, vii. 159. Ye shall telle the emperour from my behalve, that [etc.].

1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy. Turkie, I. ii. 2 b. With a frigat to accompany vs and to bring backe newes from vs.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., I. iii. 105.

1611.  Bible, John vii. 29. But I know him, for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

1662.  Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., II. iii. § 1. Moses tells them as from God himself.

1664.  Marvell, Corr., Wks. 1872–5, II. 159. On the third [day] … he had audience from his Majesty.

1790–1811.  W. Combe, The Devil upon Two Sticks in England (1817), I. 263. In this business, as in every other, she acted from herself.

1843.  Fraser’s Mag., XXVIII. 328. You shall hear from my attorney.

1844.  Thirlwall, Hist. Greece, VIII. 303. Dionysodorus, an envoy from Attalus.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 405. Independence, veracity, self-respect, were things not required by the world from him.

1883.  Century Mag., XXVI. 919/1. He … still holds his place from the trustees.

1883.  Daily News, 22 Sept., 4/6. Virulent abuse from that class of men.

  12.  Denoting derivation, source, descent, or the like: a. in regard to material things.

1399.  Rolls of Parlt., III. 422–3. I Henry of Lancastr’ … am disendit be right lyne of the Blode comyng fro the gude lorde Kyng Henry therde.

1595.  Shaks., John, I. i. 124.

1646.  Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., V. v. 239. Eve, who … anomalously proceeded from Adam.

1667.  Milton, P. L., V. 480. So from the root Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves More aerie.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 481. Clio and Beroe, from one Father both.

1736.  W. Stukeley, in Mem. (Surtees), III. 169. Ebulus or wild elder, fancyed to spring from the Danes blood.

1771.  R. Henry, Hist. Gt. Brit., I. I. vi. 371. The greatest rivers sometimes flow from the smallest fountains.

1807.  Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 739. Bequeathed to missions money from the stocks.

1821.  Keats, Lamia, I. 334. A real woman, lineal indeed From Pyrrha’s pebbles or old Adam’s seed.

1870.  Anderson, Missions Amer. Bd., II. ix. 68. Dangerous cuts from a sabre.

  b.  in regard to things immaterial; esp. ‘noting progress from premisses to inferences’ (J.).

1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy. Turkie, Ded. p. 3. Being induced by an argument drawen from the greatnesse of the labors.

1658.  J. Robinson, Eudoxa, ii. 23. The Argumentation is from a Similitude, therefore not Apodictick.

1712–4.  Pope, Rape Lock, I. 1. What dire offence from am’rous causes springs.

1795.  Gentl. Mag., 541/1. You will be astonished at the logick which could draw such an inference from that address.

1821.  Keats, Isabella, xiv. Enriched from ancestral merchandise.

1838.  Thirlwall, Hist. Greece, IV. 223. Several very pernicious consequences arose from this bent of mind.

1839.  G. Bird, Nat. Philos., 40. From these facts the following laws have been deduced.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 320. His chief pleasures were commonly derived from field sports and from an unrefined sensuality.

1887.  L. Carroll, Game of Logic, i. § 2. 21. Now let us try to draw a Conclusion from the two Premisses—

  13.  Indicating a model, rule, copy; also, a person or thing after which another is named.

1596.  Shaks., Tam. Shr., III. i. 53. For sure Æacides Was Aiax, cald so from his grandfather.

1655.  T. Stanley, Hist. Philos., I. (1701), 42/2. He [Cleobulus] had a Daughter whom he named Eumetis, but was called commonly from her Father Cleobulina: she composed verses and riddles, in Hexameters, famous for her wisdome and acutenesse in those riddles.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, III. 27.

1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 127. You are to consider what Apartments … to make on your Ground-plot … and to set them off from your Scale.

1800.  H. Wells, Const. Neville, III. 266. I am … to take charge of a younger brother, who was named from him.

1811.  L. M. Hawkins, The Countess and Gertrude, III. lix. 259. She sketched objects; she colored from nature.

1875.  Knight’s London (Walford), I. xi. 195. The Birdcage walk … was so named from the cages of an aviary disposed among the trees which bordered it.

  14.  Denoting ground, reason, cause, or motive: Because of, on account of, owing to, as a result of, through. Now replaced in some uses by for.

1611.  Shaks., Cymb., I. v. 24.

1622.  Fletcher, Span. Curate, III. iii.

1663.  Cowley, Pindar. Odes, 2nd Olympique, Argt. He is commended from the Nobility of his Race (whose story is often toucht on) from his great Riches (an ordinary, Common-Place in Pindar) from his Hospitality, Munificence and other Virtues.

1710.  Norris, Chr. Prud., ii. 99. For the Devil (therefore very fitly call’d by the name of the Old Serpent) has a great deal of Cunning, tho’ no true Wisdom or Prudence; and his Cunning is the more odious for the resemblance it has to Wisdom, as Aping, and at the same time belying so Divine and Excellent a Vertue.

1762.  Goldsm., Cit. W., xi. From such a picture of nature in primeval simplicity … are you in love with fatigue and solitude?

1764.  Foote, Mayor of G., I. Wks. 1799, I. 165. Whether from the fall or the fright, the Major mov’d off in a month.

1776.  Trial of Nundocomar, 32/2. The man could not be brought here … without imminent danger of expiring from fatigue.

1796.  Hist., in Ann. Reg., 8. They spoke and acted from principle.

1844.  Disraeli, Coningsby, IV. iii. Remarkable from the neatness … of its architecture.

1849.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 232. That weak apostle who from fear denied the Master.

1851.  Illustr. Lond. News, 11 Jan., 23. Nine children died from want of breast milk.

1863.  Whyte Melville, Gladiators, I. 264. The mighty fabric … was beginning … to sink and crumble from its own enormous size and weight.

1883.  Manch. Exam., 29 Oct., 5/4. The firm had to suspend payment, not from any fault of their own, but from their connection with another firm.

1883.  Law Rep., 11 Q. Bench Div. 597. The censure had been made injuriously and from motives of private malice.

1885.  T. Raleigh, in Law Q. Rev., April, 151. A person suffering from senile dementia is not a lunatic.

  b.  indicating the ground of a judgment, belief, or the like.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. vii. 16. Fram hyra wæstmun ȝe hi underȝytað.

1673.  Ray, Journ. Low C., 8. That the rain doth continually wash down earth from the Mountains, and atterrate or add part of the Sea to the firm Land, is manifest from the Lagune or Flats about Venice.

1855.  J. W. Croker, in Croker Papers (1884), III. xxix. 328. From your silence I fear the fact is so.

1891.  M. R. Haselden, in Law Times, XCII. 107/1. From the language of the preamble you might perhaps fancy that [etc.].

1894.  Solicitor’s Jrnl., XXXIX. 2/2. It is clear from these decisions that [etc.].

  15.  Used in certain of the above senses (esp. 1, 2, 3, 9, 10) with an adverb or a phrase (prep. + sb. or pron.) as object. a. With obj. an adverb (of place or time), as from above, afar, etc. Also, more or less pleonastically, before hence, thence, whence, henceforth, etc.: see those words.

a. 1300.  Cursor Mundi, 7505 (Trin.). I hadde no helpe but from aboue. Ibid., 16749 (Fairf.). From then [Gött. fra þan. Trin. fro þenne].

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. III. 105. Com late from biȝonde.

a. 1553.  Philpot, Exam. (1842), 403. A destiny which from ever hath been, is, and shall be true.

1625.  Bacon, Ess., Plantations (Arb.), 534. That the Plantation may spread into Generations, and not be euer peeced from without.

1685.  Dryden, Thren. August., 169. They mined it near, they battered from afar.

1748.  Thomson, Cast. Indol., II. 391.

1770.  Goldsm., Des. Vill., 116. The mingling notes came softened from below.

1821.  Keats, Isabella, xxxii. The breath of Winter comes from far away.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. II. vii. From of old, Doubt was but half a Magician.

  b.  Followed by a preposition indicating a static condition, as from amidst, beneath, etc.

c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. iv. 25. Fram beȝeondan iordanen.

1388.  Wyclif, Luke xxiv. 49. Til that ȝe be clothid with vertu from an hiȝ.

1588.  Shaks., Tit. A., IV. i. 44. She culd it from among the rest.

1637.  Milton, Lycidas, 16. The sacred well That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring. Ibid. (1671), Samson, 1691. His fiery virtue roused From under ashes into sudden flame.

1667.  Sir R. Moray, Let., 10 Dec., in Lauderdale Papers (1885), II. 88. There is a Damned book come hither from beyond sea called Naphtali.

1710.  Steele, Tatler, No. 170, ¶ 4. I thought it better to remove a studious Countenance from among busy ones.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe, II. vi. That they might feast on fresh meat from on shore, as we did with their salt meat from on board.

1761.  [see 5 b].

1786.  Mackenzie, Lounger, No. 56 (1787), II. 197. I see my grandmother … looking at me from under her spectacles.

1835.  Lytton, Rienzi, I. i. A body of horsemen … dashed from amidst the trees.

  c.  Followed, more or less pleonastically, by a prep. of similar meaning, as out, out of, forth, off, where each prep. serves to strengthen or supplement the sense of the other.

c. 1593.  Marlowe, Massacre Paris, II. iii. His soul is fled from out his breast.

1594.  Hooker, Eccl. Pol., I. viii. § 5. [A principle] drawn from out of the very bowels of heaven and earth.

1607.  Shaks., Timon, I. i. 138. I will choose Mine heyre from forth the Beggers of the world.

1632.  G. Hughes, Saints Losse, 51. Know ye not that God hath taken away your captaine from off your heads this day?

1700.  Dryden, Palamon & Arcite, III. 514.

1789.  G. White, Selborne (1813), I. xiv. 256. From out of the side of this bed leaped an animal.

1820.  Keats, Eve St. Agnes, xxx.

1887.  A. Birrell, Obiter Dicta, Ser. II. 150. Ready to engage with all comers on all subjects from out the stores of his accumulated knowledge.

  † B.  quasi-adv. = away. (Cf. FRO B.) Only in phr. to and from (= to and fro), from and back.

a. 1450.  Knt. de la Tour (1868), 60. The synner that gothe ofte to and from in his foule plesaunce.

1608.  Topsell, Serpents (1658), 608.

  † C.  quasi-conj. = from the time when. (Cf. FRO C. 1.) Obs.

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 850. From she was twelve yeer of age, She of hir love graunt him made.

c. 1500.  Lancelot, 1431.

1583.  Babington, Commandm., ix. 479. Whatsoeuer may be profitable to vs euen from morning to night, from we rise till wee goe to bed, and then howe should we escape and yet God be iust too?

1603.  Warner, Alb. Eng., XI. lxvi. (1612), 282. From Elizabeth to Raigne, and I to liue begunne.