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Healer Posted 3 years ago
Grammar

Of oneself

The doors opened of themselves. Does "of themselves" or "of oneself" mean to do something automatically or voluntarily or simply mean to be alone or unaided? Can it be used to refer to a person? For example: He does it of himself.
  

Top answer

healer The doors opened of themselves. Does "of themselves" or "of oneself" mean to do something automatically or voluntarily or simply mean to be alone or unaided? It means that the doors opened as if they had a mind of their own.

— Anonymous

  • healer The doors opened of themselves.
  • Does "of themselves" or "of oneself" mean to do something automatically or voluntarily or simply mean to be alone or unaided?
  • It means that the doors opened as if they had a mind of their own.
  • In modern US English, "of itself" in this meaning sounds quaint.
  • We now say "by itself", more's the pity because that is ambiguous with the meaning "alone".
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3 Answers
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healerThe doors opened of themselves. Does "of themselves" or "of oneself" mean to do something automatically or voluntarily or simply mean to be alone or unaided?

It means that the doors opened as if they had a mind of their own. In modern US English, "of itself" in this meaning sounds quaint. We now say "by itself", more's the pity because that is ambiguo

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The doors opened by themselves. (contemporary English)
The doors opened of their own accord. (more formal) .

I don't know where you found "of", but it might be a regional dialect or from some very old book. (Early Modern English.) It sounds King James Biblical to me.

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healerCan it be used to refer to a person? For example: He does it of himself.

The big search for "He does it of himself".

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=He+does+it+of+hims

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