off-

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂epó“off, away”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aba-“off, away”
3. Old English · inherited fromof-
4. Middle English · inherited fromof-
5. English todayoff-

From Middle English of-, from Old English of-, æf- (“off, away, down, un-”), from Proto-Germanic *aba- (“off, away”), combining form of *ab(a), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”). Cognate with Dutch af- (“off, away, down”), German ab- (“off, from, down”), Latin ab- (“from, of”), Ancient Greek ἀπο- (apo-, “away from, without”). Doublet of apo- and ab-. Equivalent to off. Compare of.

Words from the same roots