of course

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1. now rare except in matter of courseThat is part of ordinary behaviour or custom; customary, natural.First known use 16th c.

   I am not using a mere phrase of course, when I say that the feelings with which I bear a part in the ceremony of this day are such as I find it difficult to utter in words.

   1849 March 21 (date delivered), [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Speeches.] A Speech Delivered at the College of Glasgow on the 21st of March, 1849.”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC, page 749

   1 more example

   Had Francesca grown up by his side, she would have loved him; and a thousand indulgences, the result of careless good-nature, would have linked the child to the parent, till the mutual affection would have become a thing of course.

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 147

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1. archaicnot comparableIn due course; as a matter of course; as a natural result.First known use 16th c.

   Not tarrying long enough in the brain to be subject to reflection, the next sensations, of course, obliterate them.

   1790, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Men

   2 more examples

   He inſpired love and emulation wherever he appeared; envy and jealous rage followed of courſe; ſo that he became a very deſirable, though a very dangerous acquaintance.

   a. 1772, [Tobias] Smollett, “He Is Concerned in a Dangerous Adventure with a Certain Gardener; […]”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London, published 1781, →OCLC, page 50, column 2

   It was at one time made a question whether giving the royal assent to a single bill did not of course put an end to the session.

   1845, Henry John Stephen, New commentaries on the laws of England

2. not comparableNaturally; as would be expected; for obvious reasons, obviously.First known use 19th c.

   Of course I know that!

   5 more examples

   You will of course surrender all your future rights to the property.

   “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it’s very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]”

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “A Novice”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 359

   We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall to the door of the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages 304–305

   There were other flapper-era starlets, of course—Louise Brooks, Greta Garbo—but they were poseurs by comparison.

   2012, Christoper Zara, Tortured Artists: From Picasso and Monroe to Warhol and Winehouse, the Twisted Secrets of the World's Most Creative Minds, part 1, chapter 1, 25

   Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins. For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.

   2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76

   Synonyms: naturally, indisputably

alternative course · alternative 'course · alternative Internet ofc · alternative Internet oc · alternative nonstandard proscribed ofcourse

1. Indicates enthusiastic agreement.

   Will you come with me? — Of course!

   Synonyms: absolutely, sure, sure thing, you bet, yes

2. Used to acknowledge thanks; a ritual reply to thank you.

   Thank you! — Of course!

   Synonyms: you're welcome, no problem