Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
From
From
(frŏm)
, p
rep.
[AS.
fram
, from
; akin to OS. fram
out, OHG. & Icel. fram
forward, Sw. fram
, Dan. frem
, Goth. fram
from, prob. akin to E. forth
. [GREEK]202. Cf. Fro
, Foremost
.] Out of the neighborhood of; lessening or losing proximity to; leaving behind; by reason of; out of; by aid of; – used whenever departure, setting out, commencement of action, being, state, occurrence, etc., or procedure, emanation, absence, separation, etc., are to be expressed. It is construed with, and indicates, the point of space or time at which the action, state, etc., are regarded as setting out or beginning; also, less frequently, the source, the cause, the occasion, out of which anything proceeds; – the antithesis and correlative of
to
; as, it, is one hundred miles
from
Boston to Springfield; he took his sword from
his side; light proceeds from
the sun; separate the coarse wool from
the fine; men have all sprung from
Adam, and often go from
good to bad, and from
bad to worse; the merit of an action depends on the principle from
which it proceeds; men judge of facts from
personal knowledge, or from
testimony.Experience
from
the time past to the time present. Bacon.
The song began
from
Jove. Drpden.
From
high Mæonia’s rocky shores I came. Addison.
If the wind blow any way
from
shore. Shakespeare
☞ From sometimes denotes away from, remote from, inconsistent with. “Anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing.” , and
Shak.
From, when joined with another preposition or an adverb, gives an opportunity for abbreviating the sentence. “There followed him great multitudes of people . . . from [the land] beyond Jordan.” Math. iv. 25.
In certain constructions, as from forth, from out, etc., the ordinary and more obvious arrangment is inverted, the sense being more distinctly forth from, out from – from being virtually the governing preposition, and the word the adverb. See From off
, under Off
, adv.
From afar
, under Afar
, adv.
Webster 1828 Edition
From
FROM
, prep.The sense of from may be expressed by the noun distance, or by the adjective distant, or by the participles, departing, removing to a distance. Thus it is one hundred miles from Boston to Hartford. He took his sword from his side. Light proceeds from the sun. Water issues from the earth in springs. Separate the coarse wool from the fine. Men have all sprung from Adam. Men often go from good to bad, and from bad to worse. The merit of an action depends on the principle from which it proceeds. Men judge of facts from personal knowledge, or from testimony. We should aim to judge from undeniable premises.
The sense of from is literal or figurative, but it is uniformly the same.
In certain phrases, generally or always elliptical, from is followed by certain adverbs, denoting place, region or position, indefinitely, no precise point being expressed; as,
From above, from the upper regions.
From afar, from a distance.
From beneath, from a place or region below.
From below, from a lower place.
From behind, from a place or position in the rear.
From far, from a distant place.
From high, from on high, from a high place, from an upper region, or from heaven.
From hence, from this place; but from is superfluous before hence. The phrase however is common.
From thence, from that place; from being superfluous.
From whence, from which place; from being superfluous.
From where, from which place.
From within, from the interior or inside.
From without, from the outside, from abroad.
From precedes another preposition, followed by its proper object or case.
From amidst, as from amidst the waves.
From among, as from among the trees.
From beneath, as from beneath my head.
From beyond, as from beyond the river.
From forth, as from forth his bridal bower. But this is an inverted order of the words; forth from his bower.
From off, as from off the mercy seat, that is, from the top or surface.
From out, as from out a window, that is, through an opening or from the inside.
From out of, is an ill combination of words and not to be used.
From under, as from under the bed, from under the ashes, that is, from beneath or the lower side.
From within, as from within the house, that is, from the inner part or interior.