oft
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English oft (also ofte, often > Modern English often), from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-West Germanic *oftu, *oftō, from Proto-Germanic *uftō (“often”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian oafte (“oft, often”), West Frisian oft, ofte (“oft, often”), Dutch oft (“oft, often”), German oft (“oft, often”). More at often.
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɔft/, enPR: ôft
- (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA(key): /ɑft/, enPR: ŏft
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɒft/, enPR: ŏft
- Rhymes: -ɒft
Audio (US) (file)
Adverb edit
oft (comparative ofter, superlative oftest)
- (chiefly poetic, dialectal, and in combination) often; frequently; not rarely
- An oft-told tale
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →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 nations oftest 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?
- And how is it that they, the sons of fame,
- 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 come oftest
In Kentucky;
- The moonlight falls the softest
Usage notes edit
- In widespread contemporary use in combination.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *ufta. Cognate with English oft and German oft.
Adverb edit
oft (comparative ofter, superlative oftst)
Further reading edit
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German ofte, oft, uft, from Old High German ofta, ofto, oftu, from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”). Cognate with Dutch oft, English oft and often.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
oft (comparative öfter, superlative am öftesten)
- 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
Usage notes edit
- The superlative is, for whatever reason, sometimes frowned upon and is predominantly replaced with am häufigsten in formal style. The comparative is also sometimes replaced with häufiger.
Synonyms edit
Further reading edit
Hunsrik edit
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
oft
Further reading edit
Icelandic edit
Etymology edit
From Old Norse oft (“often”) and opt (“oft, often”).
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -ɔft
Adverb edit
oft (comparative oftar, superlative oftast)
- often
- Ég fer oft í ræktina.
- I often go to the gym.
- Ég hef sigrað oftar en þú!
- I've won oftener than you!
Derived terms edit
- oftar en ekki (more often than not)
Luxembourgish edit
Adverb edit
oft
Synonyms edit
Synonyms edit
Old English edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *ufta.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
oft (comparative oftor, superlative oftost)
Antonyms edit
Descendants edit
Old Norse edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *ufta.
Adverb edit
oft
Descendants edit
Old Saxon edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *ufta.
Adverb edit
oft
Descendants edit
- Low German: oft
Pennsylvania German edit
Etymology edit
Compare German oft, English often, Swedish ofta.
Adverb edit
oft
Synonyms edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
From aht.
Noun edit
oft n (plural ofturi)