a1618 Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie xli,Her head shee felt with whiffing steel *off-chopt.
c1200 Ormin 8104 Forr þatt teȝȝ sholldenn att hiss dæþ Þa riche menn *offcwellenn.
c1275 Luue Ron 23 in O.E. Misc. 93Pyne and deþ him wile *of-dryue.
1555–8 T. Phaer æneid. i. C ij b,With the light of torches great the darke ofdriue atones.
c1400 Rowland & O. 475 The Nasell of his helme *of-glade.
c1400 Destr. Troy 6474 Hondes *ofhew heturly fast. [ he]
Ibid. 6722His helme *of hurlit, & his hed bare.
1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6704þe strenthe of hungre sal þam swa chace Þat þair awen flesshe þai sal *of-race.
Ibid. 7379And thair awen flessch *of-ryve and race.
1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 219They not their sinnes..*of shake.
a1618 Sylvester Job Triumph. ii. 76His fruit, yer ripe, shall be off-shaken all.
1892 Zangwill Childr. Ghetto II. 20We rest not, but stand, Off-shaken our sloth.
c1320 Sir Beues 816 ( MS. A)A spanne of þe groin be-forn Wiþ is swerd he haþ *of schoren.
1533 Gau Richt Vay 58Thay ar heretikis offchorne fra ye kirk of Christ.
1390 Gower Conf. I. 138The leves let defoule in haste..And let *of schreden euery braunche.
c1205 Lay. 26071Arður..of-toc þene eotend..And þat þih him *of-smat . [ 1275 of-smot]
Ibid. 28721Þe king mid his sweorde þat hefd him *of swipte.
1390 Gower Conf. I. 346That he hire Pappes sholde *of tere Out of hire brest.
1515 Barclay Egloges (1570) B v b,His nose and eares *off trenched were also.
c1350 Will. Palerne 2590William hent hastili þe hert, and meliors þe hinde, And as smartli as þei couþe þe skinnes *of turned.
c1320 Sir Beues 3882 ( MS. A)His sclauin ech palmer *of twiȝte.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 6883 Ther was mani heued *of weued.
a1400 Sir Beues ( MS. S) 868Her heued *of wypt at a drauȝte.
1568 Turner Herbal iii. 43It maye be called also Ofbiten, because a pece of the roote is biten of.
1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 47The worlds whole throng of hard, wide, and off-standing bodies.
1813 Coleridge Remorse ii. i. 171A small green dell Built all around with high off-sloping hills.
1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xlix. (1856) 466It has surrounded us with the off-shed fragments of the floes.
1888 Leland Pract. Educ. i. 27An offshooting twig.
1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 182The ofshauing of the World, and the vilest of all people.
1591 R. Bruce Serm. (1843) 223,I have..woven my web of life to the off-cutting.
1612 Woodall Surg. MateWks. (1653) 185As it were off-scouring, or off-shavings of the intestines.
1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 87Two such worlds would touch without any more ado; there being no off-standing betwixt them.
1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 352Not imagining he could want any assistance on the off-setting.
1724 R. Smith in Coll. Dying Testim. (1806) 214Not⁓withstanding of Mr. Kid's..off-fall from us.
1881 Atlantic Monthly XLVIII. 520 The superb outlooks and offlooks from its windows and porch.
1793 W. Chapman ( title)Report..on the means of working Woodford River,..as an off-branch from the Lough-Erne and Ballyshannon Navigation.
1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 27 (Hoppe)The many off-streets and alleys which may be called the tributaries to those great second-hand marts.
1854 Jrnl. R.Agric. Soc. XV. i. 67Crooked off-spurs of flat land.
1876 Gladstone Homeric Synchr. 224An off-stream from the river Styx.
1884 Kendal Merc. 8 Feb. 4/7These smaller off-drains should be flushed into the main street drain.
1890 Antiquary XXII. 9 In an off-room is exhibited the Hermaphrodite statue.
1896 Westm. Gaz. 4 Mar. 7/2A very significant announcement is hid away in an off-corner of the Daily Telegraph.
1963 Times 7 Mar. 3/2 Those who bet on racecourses and have off-course businesses as well must include the net profit of the racecourse business when determining their category.
1964 A. Wykes Gambling viii. 195In France, bookmaking is illegal; and the law against off⁓course, non-totalizator gambling is strictly enforced.
1977 Times 2 Apr. 14/2 If it had a monopoly of off-course betting..it could provide..{pstlg}35m a year for racing. [ sc. the Tote]
1962 S. L. Bragg Rocket Engines ii. 34Its performance at off-design pressure ratios is better than that of a conventional nozzle.
1972 Lebende Sprachen XVII. 134/1 Motors designed for high altitude use are frequently tested under off-design conditions.
1962 Economist 24 Mar. 1098/2 Target prices for off-farm dairy products..are pitched at a much lower level.
1963 Times 11 Jan. 9/3 In agriculture the slow progress of both total output and off-farm sales has meant that the income of the collective farm economy has not risen fast enough.
1935 Economist 20 Apr. 900/2 The bulk of their trade is done with off-gold countries, and in commodities whose prices are determined by conditions in those off-gold countries.
1961 Engineering 10 Nov. 626 The problem of off-highway mobility.
1968 Globe Mag. (Toronto) 17 Feb. 5There are now lucrative possibilities in many parts of North America for Leafs who once sold their off-ice services, personal appearances and so on very cheap.
1945 Off-pitch . [ see blue a. 3 d]
1961 Engineering 10 Nov. 628 Spheres of off-road and industrial haulage.
1968 Economist 21 Sept. 82/2 The new engine..is more suited..to off-road vehicles (dump trucks and earth movers of all sorts).
1973 Observer (Colour Suppl. ) 2 Sept. 51/3Off-road racing started in California about seven years ago with the development of beach buggies and other fun cars.
1975 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 11 Apr. 16/2 Off-road and recreational vehicles are becoming more and more popular.
1969 Ibid. 22 Feb. 14/2Anybody involved in a fight is automatically ‘off site’ on the next plane. In other words all parties involved lose not only their jobs but their accommodation and have to find a new town.
1970 Guardian 22 Aug. 2/4 Underground nuclear explosions in Nevada..would have negligible off-site effects.
1956 Wallis & Blair Thunder Above (1959) i. 7He could have deviated up into Scotland for an off-track landing at Prestwick.
1964 A. Wykes Gambling 340Whereas the on-track betting turnover was the equivalent of $64,680,000, off-track betting brought in $65,240,000. The only legal way to make an off-track bet is through the Totalization Agency Board.
1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 26 Sept. B1/1 Very little of the money bet through off-track messenger betting shops reaches the pari-mutuel machines.
1976 Times 20 Mar. 14/6 Many off-track activities including a concours d'elegance of classic road cars.
1927 , etc. . [ see off-whiten. and a.]
1930 Daily Express 8 Sept. 5 One of the new off-black shades.., a sort of unripe blackberry colour, is used for the third model.
1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems 250The walls are alternately painted Off-yellow and festival mauve.
1960 Guardian 9 Dec. 8/5 A feeling for the gentler blues and off-greens.
1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 10D ( Advt. ),Colors included..nocturne (off-black).
ORIGIN: from off adverb . Corresp. to Old Saxon af- , Old Norse af- , Gothic af- , Old High German ab , also Latin ab- , Greek apo- , Sanskrit apa- . Cf. combs. of off preposition , off adjective .
off-
Prefix
- Away from; off.
Etymology
From Middle English of-, from Old English of-, æf- (“off, away, down, un-”), from Proto-Germanic *af- (“off, away”), from Proto-Indo-European *apo- (“off, away”). Cognate with Dutch af- (“off, away, down”), German ab- (“off, from, down”), Latin ab- (“from, of”), Ancient Greek απο- (apo-, “away from, without”).