with

See also: wiþ, wið, with-, wiþ-, and wįð

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward”), a shortened form of wiþer, from Proto-Germanic *wiþr- (“against”), from Proto-Indo-European *wi-tero- (“more apart”); from Proto-Indo-European *wi (“separation”). Cognate with Old Frisian with (“against, again”), Old Saxon with (“against, again”), Dutch weder (“again”) and weer (“again, opposite”), Low German wedder (“again, against, opposite”), German wider (“against”) and wieder (“again”), Danish ved (“by, near, with”), Swedish vid (“by, next to, with”). 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, cognate with Old-Frisian mith (“with”), Modern Frisian mei (“with”), Old Norse með (“with”), Icelandic með (“with”), Dutch met (“with”) and German mit (“with”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation
preconsonantal, final
prevocalic
  • (General Australian, UK, US) IPA(key): /wɪð/
  • (US, also) IPA(key): /wɪθ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪð, -ɪθ

Preposition

with

  1. Against.
    • 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.
    He picked a fight with the class bully.
  2. In the company of; alongside, close to; near to.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      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.
    He went with his friends.
  3. In addition to; as an accessory to.
    She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar.
  4. Used to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.
    • 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, John Dryden (translator), Aeneid, in 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 Rev. George Gilfillan (editor) The Fourth Pastoral, or Daphne, in 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, The Hippopotamus Chapter 2
      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.
  5. In support of.
    • 2013 June 29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 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.
    We are with you all the way.
  6. (obsolete) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by.
    • 1300s?, Political, Religious and Love Poems, “An A B C Poem on the Passion of Christ”, ed. Frederick James Furnivall, 1866
      Al þus with iewys I am dyth, I seme a wyrm to manus syth.
    • c. 1386–1388, Geffray Chaucer [i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer], “The Legende of Good Women: The Prologue”, in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […] (in Middle English), [London]: Printed by [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], published 1542, OCLC 932884868, folio ccxvii, verso, column 2:
      Hypſiphile, betrayed with Jaſoun, / Maketh of your trouth neyther boſte ne ſoun
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    • c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The VVinters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
      , V-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 […]
    slain with robbers
  7. Using as an instrument; by means of.
    • 1430?, “The Love of Jesus” in Hymns to the Virgin and Christ, ed. Frederick James Furnivall, 1867, p.26
      Þirle my soule with þi spere anoon,
    • 1619, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, A King and no King, Act IV
      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.
    cut with a knife
  8. (obsolete) Using as nourishment; more recently replaced by on.
  9. Having, owning.
Quotations
  • For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:with.
Derived terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adverb

with (not comparable)

  1. (US) Along, together with others, in a group, etc.
    Do you want to come with?

Etymology 2

Noun

with (plural withs)

  1. Alternative form of withe
    • King James Bible
      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.

Anagrams

Middle English

Preposition

with

  1. Alternative form of wiþ

Old Saxon

Etymology

A shortened form of withar (against), cognate with Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward”) and wiþer.

Preposition

with

  1. against, with, toward
    • Uuesat iu so uuara uuiðar thiu, uuið iro fēcneon dādiun, sō man uuiðar fīundun scal
      Be careful against them, against their dreadful actions, just like one must be (careful) against his enemies
      (Heliand, verse 1883)
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