with

Meanings

1. 1
   prep

   Against.

   He picked a fight with the class bully.

2. 2
   prep

   In the company of; alongside, close to; near to.

   He went with his friends.

3. 3
   prep

   In addition to; as an accessory to.

   She owns a motorcycle with a sidecar.

4. 4
   prep

   Used to add supplemental information, especially to indicate simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.

   Jim was listening to Bach with his eyes closed.

5. 5
   prep

   In support of.

   We are with you all the way.

6. 6
   prep

   In regard to.

   There are a number of problems with your plan.

7. 7
   prep

   To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; – sometimes equivalent to by.

   slain with robbers

8. 8
   prep

   Using as an instrument; by means of.

   cut with a knife

Etymology

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 rev…