FromMiddle Englishoft (alsoofte,often > ModernEnglishoften), fromOld Englishoft(“often”), fromProto-West Germanic*oftu,*oftō, fromProto-Germanic*uftō(“often”). Cognate withSaterland Frisianoafte(“oft, often”),West Frisianoft,ofte(“oft, often”),Dutchoft(“oft, often”),Germanoft(“oft, often”). More atoften.
oft (comparativeofter,superlativeoftest)
- (chiefly poetic, dialectal, and in combination)often;frequently; not rarely
Anoft-told tale
c.1604–1605 (date written),William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act II, scene i]:What I can do, can do no hurt to try:
Since you ſet up your reſt 'gainſt remedy:
He that of greateſt works is finiſher,
Oft does them by the weakeſt miniſter;
So holy writ in babes hath judgment ſhown,
When judges have been babes.
- 1819,George Gordon Byron, John Galt (biography),The Pophecy of Dante, Canto the Fourth,1857,The Complete Works of Lord Byron, Volume 1,page 403,
- And how is it that they, the sons of fame,
Whose inspiration seems to them to shine
From high, they whom the nationsoftest name,
Must pass their days in penury or pain,
Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame,
And wear a deeper brand and gaudier chain?
- 1902, James H. Mulligan,In Kentucky, quoted in 2005, Wade Hall (editor),The Kentucky Anthology,page 203,
- The moonlight falls the softest
In Kentucky;
The summer days comeoftest
In Kentucky;
- In widespread contemporary use in combination.
often; frequently; not rarely; many times
oft
- Alternative form ofofte
FromMiddle High Germanofte,oft,uft, fromOld High Germanofta,ofto,oftu, fromProto-Germanic*ufta,*uftō(“often”). Cognate withDutchoft,Englishoft andoften.
oft (comparativeöfter,superlativeamöftesten)
- often
- Synonyms:dauernd,des Öfteren,fortgesetzt,gehäuft,häufig,immer wieder,laufend,mehrfach,mehrmalig,mehrmals,öfter,öfters,oftmalig,oftmals,regelmäßig,ständig,vielfach,vielmals,wiederholt,x-mal,zigmal
- The superlative is, for whatever reason, sometimes frowned upon and is predominantly replaced withamhäufigsten in formal style. The comparative is also sometimes replaced withhäufiger.
- “oft” inDuden online
- “oft” inDigitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
oft
- often
FromOld Norseoft(“often”) andopt(“oft, often”).
oft (comparativeoftar,superlativeoftast)
- often
Ég feroft í ræktina.- Ioften go to the gym.
Ég hefsigraðoftar en þú!- I've wonoftener than you!
oft
- often
- often (inmanycases)
FromProto-Germanic*ufta.
oft (comparativeoftor,superlativeoftost)
- often,oft
10th century,The Wanderer[1]:Oft him ānhaga · āre gebīdeð,
Metudes miltse, · þēah þe hē mōdċeariġ- A loneroft waits a grace for himself,
Creator's mercy, even if he is sorrowful
10th century,Exeter Book Riddle 5[2]:Oft iċ wīġ sēo, frēcne feohtan.- Ioft see a war, a dangerous battle.
FromProto-Germanic*ufta.
oft
- often
FromProto-Germanic*ufta.
oft
- often
Pennsylvania German
[edit]CompareGermanoft,Englishoften,Swedishofta.
oft
- often,frequently
Fromaht.
oft n (pluralofturi)
- sigh
