oft

often; frequently; not rarely

Adverb

  1. often; frequently; not rarely
    • An oft-told tale
    • 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...
    • 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...

Origin

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.

Forms

ofter oftest

Related

often

Derived

many a time and oft oft-mentioned oftness oft-repeated ofttimes oft-used oftwhiles