OF

Writing & Everyday abbreviation · Grammar and Dictionary

OF
Stands forOld French
CategoriesWriting & Everyday

OF stands for Old French, a grammar and dictionary abbreviation.

Identifies Old French, the French of roughly the 9th to 14th centuries, as the source of an English word in etymologies. Thousands of English words came from Old French or its Anglo-Norman variety after 1066.

Example: courage (n.) from OF corage, from Latin cor "heart"

Usage notes

Etymologies often distinguish Old French (OF) from Anglo-Norman (AN), the French spoken in England, and Middle French (MF), used roughly 1300 to 1600. Many loans kept spellings that no longer match modern French, such as English "forest" beside modern French forêt, where the circumflex marks a lost s.

More grammar and dictionary abbreviations

  • NP – Noun phrase
  • obj. – Object
  • obs. – Obsolete
  • occas. – Occasionally
  • OE – Old English
  • OED – Oxford English Dictionary
  • ON – Old Norse
  • orig. – Originally
  • part. – Participle
  • pass. – Passive
  • PIE – Proto-Indo-European
  • pl. – Plural

See all 93 grammar and dictionary abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.