|Definition - A preposition that forms a part of an aristocratic title.|
Example - The French use de (e.g. Joseph de Maistre) and the Germans use von (e.g. Baron Manfred von Richthofen). In both cases the preposition means "of."
Oxford English Dictionary - The term's first citation is from 1871:
"The law, which forbids persons to adopt nobiliary particles to which they have no right."
(Member for Paris II. 15)