from
- 1Indicating the source, origin or provenance of someone or something, including the time or period it comes from.
We received a call from the hospital.
Most of her ideas come from books.
UsageWhen asking where someone or something comes from, from usually goes last: Where are you from?
Note
The oldest picture behind the word is motion. Origin is that motion seen from its starting end, which is why a person, a letter and a news story can all come from somewhere.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The word's ancestry includes a sense of forward motion. en.wiktionary.org
- 2Indicating the starting point of a route, scale, or range, often paired with to.
The road runs from the coast to the mountains.
Rooms at the inn range from ninety to two hundred dollars a night.
Oppositeto
Note
Departure is the core picture, and it works for space, extent and change alike: books from floor to ceiling, a trip from Chicago, a figure changed from a one to a seven.
- 3Marking the time at which something begins.
Applications are accepted from Monday.
They were friends from that day on.
UsageFor a start that runs up to now, since is usual: I've lived here since 2010. From fits other starts: open from Monday.
- 4Indicating removal or separation.
The manager was removed from his post.
She pulled the splinter from her finger.
Note
The "away" in the word's ancestry shows most clearly here: Proto-Germanic *fram meant "forward, from, away." It pairs with verbs of taking and expelling, such as remove, oust and pull, where something leaves its place. Applied to numbers, the same motion gives its arithmetic use, taking five from ten. It differs from the "source" meaning in emphasis: separation stresses the leaving, while source stresses the origin.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- English from descends from Proto-Germanic *fram, meaning "forward, from, away". en.wiktionary.org
- 5Indicating cause; because of or as a result of.
Thousands died from the famine.
His hands were rough from years of work.
UsageWith die, both die from and die of are common: died from the famine.
Similarof
- 6Indicating exclusion or protection.
The fence protects the garden from deer.
She was excused from the exam.
UsageAfter stop and prevent, use from + -ing: stop him from going (not
incorrect: stop him to go). - 7With reference to the position of an observer or a vantage point.
Seen from above, the fields formed a patchwork.
From the back row, the stage looked tiny.
UsageA whole clause can follow: from where they were standing.
Note
Here the phrase names where the looking, judging or measuring is done. It can be a physical spot (from the top of the lighthouse), a fixed point for distance (100 yards from where they were standing), or a mental position (from his point of view).
- 8Indicating differentiation between one thing and another.
It is hard to distinguish the real coins from the fakes.
The new rules differ from the old ones in two ways.
UsageThe pattern is X from Y: differ from, tell right from wrong, distinguish real from fake.
- 9Indicating the substance or material out of which something is produced.
The sauce is made from fresh tomatoes.
They built a raft from empty barrels.
UsageMade from usually suggests the material is changed (wine from grapes); made of suits material you still see.
Similarof
- 10Indicating the starting state of the subject; since being.
My cousin's been playing football from young, so he's properly good now.
He wanted to be a boxer from young.
Note
In Multicultural London English, from does the work of since and marks the stage of life a habit began in: I've been doing this from pickney, a bad boy from a little youth.
Less common meaning
- 11In mathematics, chiefly British and informal: denoting subtraction; 20 from 30 leaves 10.
Seven from twelve is five, the teacher said.
What's nine from twenty?
UsageThe order is the reverse of minus: 20 from 31 means 31 minus 20.
Note
Spoken arithmetic, chiefly in Britain, reads the subtraction in the order the hand works it: start with 31, take 20 from it, and 11 is left.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Subtracting 20 from 31 leaves 11. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of from apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from Middle English "from," from Old English "from" or "fram" ("forward, from"), which traces back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic *fram ("forward, from, away"). It is related to Old Saxon and Old High German "fram," Danish "fra," Swedish "från," and Icelandic "frá."
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- English from derives through Middle English from and Old English from or fram from Proto-West Germanic *fram and Proto-Germanic *fram. en.wiktionary.org
- English from is related to Old Saxon fram, Old High German fram, Danish fra, Swedish från and Icelandic frá. en.wiktionary.org