with
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
Etymology 1
From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward, with”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþi, a shortened form of Proto-Germanic *wiþrą (“against”). In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid (“with”), from Old English mid (“with”), from Proto-Germanic *midi; an earlier model of this meaning shift exists in cognate Old Norse við; elsewhere, the converse meaning shift is exemplified by Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩺𐩬 (byn, “between, amid”) spawning Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “against”) and even likewise frequent reverse meaning 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “from”). The adverb sense is probably a semantic loan from various other Germanic languages, such as Norwegian med, Swedish med, and German mit.[1]
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- preconsonantal, final
- (UK) IPA(key): /wɪð/, (less often) /wɪθ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /wɪθ/, /wɪð/
- (African-American Vernacular) IPA(key): /wɪt/, /wɪf/, /wɪ/[2]
- (Canada) IPA(key): /wɪθ/, (less often) /wɪð/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /wɪθ/, (less often) /wɪð/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /wəθ/, /wəð/
- Rhymes: -ɪθ, -ɪð
- prevocalic
Preposition
with
- Against.
- He picked a fight with the class bully.
- 1621, John Smith, The Proceedings of the English Colony in Virginia:
- Many hatchets, knives, & pieces of iron, & brass, we see, which they reported to have from the Sasquesahanocks a mighty people, and mortal enemies with the Massawomecks.
- In the company of; alongside, close to; near to.
- He went with his friends.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
- No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or […] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
- In addition to; as an accessory to.
- She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar.
- Used to add supplemental information, especially to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.
- Jim was listening to Bach with his eyes closed.
- The match result was 10-5, with John scoring three goals.
- With a heavy sigh, she looked around the empty room.
- Four people were injured, with one of them in critical condition.
- With their reputation on the line, they decided to fire their PR team.
- 1590, Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia:
- With that she told me that though she spake of her father, whom she named Chremes, she would hide no truth from me: […]
- 1697, Virgil, “Aeneid”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil:
- With this he pointed to his face, and show'd
His hand and all his habit smear'd with blood.
- 1861, Alexander Pope, “The Fourth Pastoral, or Daphne”, in The Rev. George Gilfillan, editor, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope:
- See where, on earth, the flowery glories lie,
With her they flourish'd, and with her they die.
- 1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus:
- With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.
- 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48:
- The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing", […] and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
- In support of.
- We are with you all the way.
- In regard to.
- There are a number of problems with your plan.
- What on Earth is wrong with my keyboard?
- He was pleased with the outcome.
- I’m upset with my father.
- 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3:
- Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.
- (obsolete) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by.
- slain with robbers
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- He was torn to / pieces with a bear:
- 1669, Nathaniel Morton, New England’s Memorial:
- He was sick and lame of the scurvy, so as he could but lie in the cabin-door, and give direction, and, it should seem, was badly assisted either with mate or mariners
- 1721, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry, page 61:
- But several sowing of Wheat at that time, because 'twas the usual time of doing of it, it lay in the Ground till Rain came, which was the latter end of October first, and then but part of it came up neither, because it was mustied and spoiled with lying so long in the Ground […]
- Using as an instrument; by means of.
- cut with a knife
- I water my plants with this watering can. This is the watering can I water my plants with.
- Find what you want instantly with our search engine.
- They dismissed the meeting with a wave of their hand.
- Speak with a confident voice.
- (Can we date this quote?), Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “A King and no King”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- you have paid me equal, Heavens, / And sent my own rod to correct me with
- 1620, William Bradford., Of Plymouth Plantation:
- They had cut of his head upon the cudy of his boat had not the man reskued him with a sword,
- 1677, William Wycherley, The plain-dealer, Prologue:
- And keep each other company in spite, / As rivals in your common mistress, fame, / And with faint praises one another damn;
- 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
- As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.
- (obsolete) Using as nourishment; more recently replaced by on.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- I am fain to dine and sup with water and bran.
- Having, owning.
- It was small and bumpy, with a tinge of orange.
- 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:
- As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels.
- Affected by (a certain emotion or condition).
- Speak with confidence.
- He spoke with sadness in his voice.
- The sailors were infected with malaria.
- Prompted by (a certain emotion).
- overcome with happiness
- green with envy; flushed with success
- In the employment of.
- She was with Acme for twenty years before retiring last fall.
- Considering; taking into account.
- With your kind of body size, you shouldn’t be eating pizza at all.
- Keeping up with; understanding; following along.
- That was a lot to explain; are you still with me?
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:with.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
with
|
against
|
in the company of
| |||||
in addition to
|
in support of
|
expressing manner
|
by means of
|
as nourishment
|
containing
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Adverb
with (not comparable)
Etymology 2
From Middle English withe, wiþþe, from Old English wiþþe. More at withe.
Noun
with (plural withs)
- Alternative form of withe
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Judges 16:7:
- And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.
References
Anagrams
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads