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What is the meaning of "be of interest" in the following sentence,

The lecture will be of interest to history students.

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Does "The lecture will be of interest to history students" mean "The lecture of interest will be to history students" ?

What is the meaning of "of" in the sentence?

Does "of" in "be of interest" mean "of" in "a leaf of tree" ?

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It means that history students will be interested in the lecture.

The "of" in "be of interest" is part of an idiomatic expression. Please review the following post in ell.stackexchange.com describing the Meaning and usage of “be of”

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  • Interestingly enough, my dictionary (NOAD) has definitions for both "be of" and "of interest".
    – Laurel ♦
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 4:40
  • I'm not surprised. I think dictionaries like the NOAD embrace colloquialisms more and more rapidly (hence the "New" in NOAD). Yesterday's colloquialism is tomorrows accepted grammar.
    – m_a_s
    Commented Mar 31, 2018 at 4:51

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