frɔm prep. expressing
separation or
origin, followed
by: 1 a
person,
place,
time,
etc.,
that is
the starting-point of
motion or
action, or of
extent in place or time (rain comes from the clouds; repeated from
mouth to mouth;
dinner is served from 8; from
start to finish). 2 a place,
object, etc.
whose distance or remoteness is reckoned or stated (ten miles from Rome; I am
far from admitting
it;
absent from
home;
apart from
its moral aspect). 3 a a
source (dig
gravel from a pit; a
man from Italy;
draw a
conclusion from premisses; quotations from Shaw). b a giver or sender (presents from
Father Christmas;
have not heard from her). 4 a a
thing or person avoided, escaped,
lost, etc. (released
him from
prison;
cannot refrain from
laughing; dissuaded from folly). b a person or thing deprived (took
his gun from him). 5 a
reason,
cause, or
motive (died from
fatigue; suffering from
mumps;
did it from
jealousy; from his looks
you might not
believe it). 6 a thing
distinguished or
unlike (know
black from white). 7 a lower
limit (saw from 10 to 20 boats; tickets from ø5). 8 a
state changed
for another (from
being the
victim he
became the attacker; raised the
penalty from a fine to imprisonment). 9 an
adverb or
preposition of time or place (from long
ago; from
abroad; from
under the bed). 10 the
position of a person
who observes or considers (saw it from the
roof; from his
point of view). 11 a
model (painted it from nature). øfrom a
child since childhood. from
day to day (or
hour to hour etc.)
daily (or
hourly etc.); as the days (or hours etc.) pass. from home
out,
away. from
now on henceforward. from time to time occasionally. from
year to year
each year; as the years pass. [OE fram, from f. Gmc]