Etymology, English, Over

Etymology

From Middle English over, from Old English ofer, from Proto-Germanic *uber (“over”), from Proto-Indo-European *upér, a comparative form of *upo; akin to Dutch over, German ober, über, Danish over, Norwegian over, Swedish över, Icelandic yfir, Faroese yvir, Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌰𐍂 (ufar), Latin super, Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér), Albanian upri (“group of peasants”), Sanskrit उपरि (upári).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.və(ɹ)/
• (US) enPR: ō’vər, IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚ/

Adjective

over (not comparable)

1. Discontinued; ended or concluded.

   The show is over.

Usage notes

Not normally used attributively (before a noun).

Adverb

over (not comparable)

1. Thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end.

   Let’s talk over the project at tomorrow’s meeting.

   Let me think that over.

   I’m going to look over our department’s expenses.

2. (often in compounds) To an excessive degree; overly.
3. From an upright position to a horizontal one.

   He tipped the bottle over, and the water came gushing out.

   That building just fell over!

   He bent over to touch his toes.

4. Horizontally; left to right or right to left.

   Slide the toilet-paper dispenser’s door over when one roll is empty in order to reveal the other.

   I moved over to make room for him to sit down.

5. From one side of something to another, passing above it.

   The fence is too high. I don’t think I’ll be able to get over.

6. From one position or state to another.

   Please pass that over to me.

   He came over to our way of thinking on the new project.

   Come over and play!

   I’ll bring over a pizza.

7. Overnight (throughout the night).

   We stayed over at Grandma’s.

   Can I sleep over?

8. (US, usually with do) Again; another time; once more; over again.

   I lost my paper and I had to do the entire assignment over.

Noun

over (plural overs)

1. (cricket) A set of six legal balls bowled.
2. Any surplus amount of money, goods delivered, etc.
3. (rare, dialectal, or obsolete) A shore, riverbank.

   The sea’s over.

Usage notes

Now mostly found in place names, as in Westover or Overton, Hampshire (a town built on the River Test). Fell out of use in the 16th century.

Preposition

over

1. Expressing spatial relationship.
   1. On top of; above; higher than; further up.

      Hold the sign up over your head.

   2. Across or spanning.

      There is a bridge over the river.

      I looked out over the sea.

   3. In such a way as to cover.

      Drape the fabric over the table.

      There is a roof over the house.

   4. From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards.

      The dog jumped over the fence.

      I’ll go over [the fence] first and then help you.

      Let’s walk over the hill to get there.

2. Expressing comparison.
   1. More than; to a greater degree.

      I prefer the purple over the pink.

   2. Beyond; past; exceeding; too much or too far.

      I think I’m over my limit for calories for today.

   3. (in certain collocations) As compared to.

      Sales are down this quarter over last.

3. Indicating relative status, authority, or power

   The owner’s son lorded it over the experienced managers.

   The prince ruled over a portion of the kingdom.

4. (mathematics) Divided by.

   Two over six equals one over three.

5. (poker) Separates the three of a kind from the pair in a full house.

   9♦9♠9♣6♥6♠ = nines over sixes

6. Finished with; done with; from one state to another via a hindrance that must be solved or defeated; or via a third state that represents a significant difference from the first two.

   We got over the engineering problems and the prototype works great.

   I am over my cold and feel great again.

   I know the referee made a bad call, but you have to get over it [your annoyance with the referee’s decision].

   She is finally over [the distress of] losing her job.

   He is finally over his [distress over the loss of the relationship with his] ex-girlfriend.

7. While using, especially while consuming.
8. Concerning or regarding.

   The two boys had a fight over whose girlfriend was the best.

9. Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding.

   We triumphed over difficulties.

   The bill was passed over the veto.

   It was a fine victory over their opponents.

Usage notes

When used in the context of “from one location to another”, over implies that the two places are at approximately the same height or the height difference is not relevant. For example, if two offices are on the same floor of a building, an office worker might say I’ll bring that over for you, while if the offices were on different floors, the sentence would likely be I’ll bring that up [down] for you. However, distances are not constrained, e.g. He came over from England last year and now lives in Los Angeles or I moved the stapler over to the other side of my desk.

Interjection

over

1. (procedure word,military) A radio procedure word meaning that the station is finished with its transmission and is expecting a response.

    Bravo Six, this is Bravo Six Four. Stand by for ten mike report one dash three, over.

   Bravo Six Four, this is Bravo Six Actual. Send your traffic, over.

   How do you receive? Over!

Verb

over (third-person singular simple present overs, present participle overing, simple past and past participle overed)

1. (Britain,transitive,dialect,obsolete) To go over, or jump over.

   He overed the fence in good style.

2. (Britain,intransitive,dialect,obsolete) To run about.

   The cattle have been overing all day because of the flies.