▪ I. oft, adv., a. Now arch., poet., and dial.; repr. in ordinary use by often.
(ɒft, ɔː-)
Forms: α. 1– oft, (4–5 offt, 8 Sc. aft). β. 2–6 ofte, (3 hofte, 3–5 offte, 5 owghte).
[Comm. Teut.: OE. oft = OFris. ofta, ofte, OS. oft, ofto (MDu. ofte rare), OHG. ofto (MHG. ofte, oft, Ger. oft), ON. oft, opt (SW. ofta, Da. ofte); Goth. ufta. In early ME. oft was extended to ofte (app. in imitation of advbs. in -e), which became 1200–1500 the only form in south. and midl., oft being confined to north. dial. or writers under northern influence. In 16th c. with the mutescence of final e, oft gradually displaced ofte, which occurs however as a graphic var. till c 1580. See also often.]
A. adv. a. = often A.
| α c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 15 Oft fallas in fyr and symle in wætre. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xiii. 34 Hu oft ic wolde þine bearn ᵹegaderian. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 109 Ac þas twa þing deriað oft þan alden. a 1300 Cursor M. 3747 (Cott.) He has me don oft vn-resun. 1388 Wyclif Eccl. vi. 1 It is oft vsid anentis men. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13466 Oft went þat wegh to the water syde. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 25 This do as oft as ye drinke it, in the remembraunce off me. 1535 Coverdale Judith v. D, As oft as they were sory. 1551 Bible 2 Cor. xi. 23 In pryson more plenteously: in death oft [Wyclif ofte tymes, Tind., Cranm., Geneva ofte, Rheims often, 1611 oft]. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 255 It commeth to passe, many times and oft. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 b, Not only as oft as we speake..but also as oft as we doe any thing. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Hewet 1 Apr., Let me hear as oft as you can. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 193 [It] is commonly a painful, oft a fruitless occupation. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 29 Many's the time and oft. 1786 Burns Dream xi, Yet aft a ragged cowte's been known To mak a noble aiver. 1806 H. K. White Hymn, Much in sorrow, oft in woe, Onward, Christians, onward go! 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxviii. 260 A strife..suspended oft, but yet renewed again. Mod. Sc. Hae ye been oft there? |
| β c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 147 Ofte for his sunne [he] swingeð him mið smele twige. c 1200 Ormin 9016 Forr ȝuw birrþ uppo kirrkeflor Beon fundenn offte & lannge. c 1205 Lay. 3363 For ofte [c 1275 hofte] hit ilimpð Þat eft hit him of-þincheð. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4144 Ydolatrie..ofte vt-wrogte hem sorges dref. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 53 Of þe folc of denemarch..þat ofte wonne engelond. 1340 Ayenb. 236 Hit be-houeþ..ofte wesse his herte of kueade lostes. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 16 Þat is Meede þe Mayden..þat haþ me marred ofte. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 170 She wolde brynge Wortes or othere herbes tymes ofte [rime softe, lofte; so 5 MSS.; Petw. & Lansd. oft, soft, loft]. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 231/1 Hawntyn, or ofte vsyn. 1442 Rolls of Parlt. V. 54/2 Upon the peyne of xl. li., to be forfait as ogwhte as they do the contrarie. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvi. xvi, Thenne ofte Colgreuaunce cryed vpon syre Bors. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §4 As ofte and as many tymes as nede shall require. c 1582 E. Skory in Nature (1883) XXVII. 316 The fyers doe ofte breake forth. |
compar.: 1 oftor, 2–7 (9 arch. and dial.) ofter, (3 -ere, 4 Sc. -yre, 5 -ir, Sc. -ar).
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past lvi. 435 Hi beoþ ðæs ðe lator ðe hi oftor ymbðeahtiað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 21 We sunegiet..welle ofter þene we scolde. 1297 [see oftsithe]. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 608 If thou bigyle me any ofter than ones. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. viii. 39 That the reders be the more and the oftir remembrid. 1551 Turner Herbal (1568) P iij, I haue not sene it in Englande ofter than ones. 1615 Latham Falconry (1633) 16 The more ofter that you doe use her unto them, the quieter she will be. 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Ofter, more frequently. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 907 She laughed sometimes..But ofter she was sorrowful. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Ofter, more frequently, oftener. |
superl.: 1 oftost, -ust, 3–7 -est. ? Obs.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 4 Forðon oftust mið feotrum & mið hracenteᵹum ᵹebunden wæs. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 114 Ah eauer ha hefde on hali writ ehnen oðer heorte, oftest ba togederes. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 439 That he þat seith most sothest [v.r. oftest seiþ soþ]. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 23 Netheles oftest and longest they were vnder the kyngis of Mercia. 1599 Jas. I βασιλ. Δωρον (1682) 35 Vertue followeth oftest noble blood. 1671 Milton P.R. ii. 228 Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreck'd. |
b. At frequent intervals of space. rare.
| 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 30 Of the villages oft intermixed, some are subject to the Margrave..and some to divers Bishops. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 94 Shee is diuided and sub-diuided so oft and into so many streames. |
c. Like other advbs., usually hyphened to a ppl. adj. used attrib., as oft-told. (In this construction still frequent.) Cf. often A. 3.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia (1622) 121 Partaker of this oft⁓blinding light. 1671 Milton Samson 575 Oft-invocated death. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xiii. 495 The oft-heav'd axe. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxiii, Reaping the whirlwind from the oft-sown winds. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles v. 39 To thwart an oft-told prophecy. 1858 in Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. VI. 318 The attacks of an oft-recurring malady. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. v. 270 An old and oft-repeated tale. 1906 P. E. More Shelburne Ess. (4th ser.) 198 There are single lines here and there, such as the oft-quoted ‘White arms out in the breakers tirelessly tossing’, which have a magical power of evoking an image or the memory of subtle sounds and odors. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 269 Her first merciful lovesoft oftloved word. 1954 O. Nash Face is Familiar (rev. ed.) 115 The oft-quoted remark of the prominent and respectable dignitary. 1976 M. Butterworth Remains to be Seen i. 11 The wary air of an oft-disappointed augur reading entrails. |
† B. adj. = often B. (Chiefly with vbl. ns.)
With gerunds and verbal ns., and so essentially adverbial.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 311 Þis hermyte..was blynde for ofte wepynge þat he usede in his beedes. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione i. i. 2 Many feliþ but litel desire of offte heringe of þe gospel. 1483 Cath. Angl. 258/2 Ofte, creber, frequens, nu[m]erosus. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark 74 b, I ascribe my safety to myne oft fastynges. a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 85 To breede occasion of ofter meeting of him and her. 1624 Quarles Div. Poems, Sion's Sonn. xx. 17 Brests, whose beautie reinvites My oft remembrance to her oft delights. 1671 Milton Samson 382 Warn'd by oft experience. |
C. Comb. With ns. denoting time, as † oft-seasons; see also oftsithe, -s, oft-time, -s.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 7 b, Thou walkest too and fro, ofteseasons in maner all y⊇ whole daye. |
▪ II. oft
obs. or dial. form of aught, ought v.
| 1575 Gamm. Gurton iii. iii, Did I (olde witch) steal oft was thine? 1576 Parad. Dainty Devices, If I may of wisedome oft define. 1590– [see ought v.]. |