Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Aloof

Aloof ({not transcribed}) , noun

(Zoology) Same as Alewife.

Aloof , adverb

[Prefix a- + loof, from Dutch loef luff, and so meaning, as a nautical word, to the windward. See Loof, Luff.]

1.
At or from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away.
Our palace stood aloof from streets. — Dryden
2.
Without sympathy; unfavorably.
To make the Bible as from the hand of God, and then to look at it aloof and with caution, is the worst of all impieties. — I. Taylor

Aloof ({not transcribed}) , preposition

Away from; clear from. [Obsolete]
Rivetus... would fain work himself aloof these rocks and quicksands. — Milton