often
Language: English
Part of speech: adv
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɒfən/
ipa: /ˈɒftən/
ipa: /ˈɔːfən/
ipa: /ˈɔːftən/
ipa: /ˈɔfən/
ipa: /ˈɔftən/
ipa: /ˈɑfən/
ipa: /ˈɑftən/
ipa: /ˈɒfən/
ipa: /ˈɒftən/
other: /t/
other: /t/
other: /t/
homophone: orphan (non-rhotic, lot–cloth split)
rhymes: -ɒfən
rhymes: -ɒftən
Forms: form: more often
form: oftener
form: most often
form: oftenest
Etymology: From Middle English often, alteration (with final -n added due to analogy with Middle English selden (“seldom”)) of Middle English ofte, oft, from Old English oft (“often”), from Proto-Germanic *ufta, *uftō (“often”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots affen, aften, af'en, oaffen, oaften, oftin (“often”), North Frisian aaft, oftem, oofting (“often”), Saterland Frisian oafte (“often”), German, Luxembourgish and Pennsylvania German oft (“often”), Yiddish אָפֿט (oft, “often”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ofte (“often”), Faroese, Swedish ofta (“often”), Icelandic oft (“often”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐍄𐌰 (ufta, “often”).
Senses: examples: text: I often walk to work when the weather is nice.
text: I’ve been going to the movies more often since a new theatre opened near me.
text: It can't be said too often / often enough.
text: ☞ This word [wrap] is often pronounced wrop, rhyming with top, even by ſpeakers much above the vulgar.
ref: 1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 557:
text: How often is the comfort of a whole family abridged by some trifling circumstance, that ought not to have made a visible impression!
ref: 1850, T. S. Arthur, “A Rise in the Butter Market”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 59:
text: Although frogs are able to swim well and often are found in water, they are really land animals.
ref: 1912, P. Chalmers Mitchell, “Larvæ and Metamorphoses”, in The Childhood of Animals, New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 17:
text: According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
ref: 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
synonyms: word: a lot
word: oftentimes
english: archaic except US
translation: archaic except US
word: typically
antonyms: word: infrequently
word: occasionally
word: rarely
word: seldom
word: unoften
english: literary except India
translation: literary except India
word: often
glosses: Frequently; many times on different occasions.
Synonyms: word: a lot
word: feelefold
word: frequently
word: manifold
word: manyfold
word: oft
word: often
word: oftenly
word: oftentimes
word: ofttimes
word: repeatedly
word: unseldom
Hyponyms: word: usually
word: as often as not
word: more often than not
word: hourly
word: daily
word: from day to day
word: monthly
Derived terms: as often as not
do you come here often
every so often
many a time and often
more often than not
oftenly
oftenness
oftentime
oftenwhiles
proverbs often come in pairs
the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry
the pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last
times and often
unoften
Related terms: word: oft
word: frequency