of

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

of BrE [əv] NAmE [əv] BrE strong form [ɒv] AmE strong form [ʌv] preposition
1. belonging to sb; relating to sb
•a friend of mine
•the love of a mother for her child
•the role of the teacher
• Can't you throw out that old bike of Tommy's?
•the paintings of Monet  When you are talking about everything someone has painted, written, etc, use of. When you are referring to one or more examples of somebody's work, use by
•a painting by Monet
2. belonging to sth; being part of sth; relating to sth
•the lid of the box
•the director of the company
•a member of the team
•the result of the debate
3. coming from a particular background or living in a place
•a woman of Italian descent
•the people of Wales
4. concerning or showing sb/sth
•a story of passion
•a photo of my dog
•a map of India
5. used to say what sb/sth is, consists of, or contains
•the city of Dublin
•the issue of housing
•a crowd of people
•a glass of milk
6. used with measurements and expressions of time, age, etc.
•2 kilos of potatoes
•an increase of 2%
•a girl of 12
•the fourth of July
•the year of his birth
• (old-fashioned) We would often have a walk of an evening.
7. used to show sb/sth belongs to a group, often after some, a few, etc.
•some of his friends
•a few of the problems
•the most famous of all the stars
8. used to show the position of sth/sb in space or time
•just north of Detroit
•at the time of the revolution
• (NAmE)at a quarter of eleven tonight (= 10.45 p.m.)
9. used after nouns formed from verbs. The noun after ‘of’ can be either the object or the subject of the action.
•the arrival of the police (= they arrive)
•criticism of the police (= they are criticized)
•fear of the dark
•the howling of the wind
10. used after some verbs before mentioning sb/sth involved in the action
•to deprive sb of sth
• He was cleared of all blame.
• Think of a number, any number.
11. used after some adjectives before mentioning sb/sth that a feeling relates to
•to be proud of sth
12. used to give your opinion of sb's behaviour
• It was kind of you to offer.
13. used when one noun describes a second one
• Where's that idiot of a boy? (= the boy that you think is stupid)
Idioms: ↑of all ▪ ↑of all the …

Word Origin:
[of] Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch af and German ab, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ab and Greek apo.