| 释义 |
▪ 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.
αc950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 15 Oft fallas in fyr and symle in wætre. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xiii. 34 Hu oft ic wolde þine bearn ᵹegaderian. c1175Lamb. Hom. 109 Ac þas twa þing deriað oft þan alden. a1300Cursor M. 3747 (Cott.) He has me don oft vn-resun. 1388Wyclif Eccl. vi. 1 It is oft vsid anentis men. c1400Destr. Troy 13466 Oft went þat wegh to the water syde. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. xi. 25 This do as oft as ye drinke it, in the remembraunce off me. 1535Coverdale Judith v. D, As oft as they were sory. 1551Bible 2 Cor. xi. 23 In pryson more plenteously: in death oft [Wyclif ofte tymes, Tind., Cranm., Geneva ofte, Rheims often, 1611 oft]. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 255 It commeth to passe, many times and oft. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. 1 b, Not only as oft as we speake..but also as oft as we doe any thing. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Mrs. Hewet 1 Apr., Let me hear as oft as you can. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 193 [It] is commonly a painful, oft a fruitless occupation. a1774Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 29 Many's the time and oft. 1786Burns Dream xi, Yet aft a ragged cowte's been known To mak a noble aiver. 1806H. K. White Hymn, Much in sorrow, oft in woe, Onward, Christians, onward go! 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxviii. 260 A strife..suspended oft, but yet renewed again. Mod. Sc. Hae ye been oft there?
βc1175Lamb. Hom. 147 Ofte for his sunne [he] swingeð him mið smele twige. c1200Ormin 9016 Forr ȝuw birrþ uppo kirrkeflor Beon fundenn offte & lannge. c1205Lay. 3363 For ofte [c 1275 hofte] hit ilimpð Þat eft hit him of-þincheð. c1250Gen. & Ex. 4144 Ydolatrie..ofte vt-wrogte hem sorges dref. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 53 Of þe folc of denemarch..þat ofte wonne engelond. 1340Ayenb. 236 Hit be-houeþ..ofte wesse his herte of kueade lostes. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 16 Þat is Meede þe Mayden..þat haþ me marred ofte. c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 170 She wolde brynge Wortes or othere herbes tymes ofte [rime softe, lofte; so 5 MSS.; Petw. & Lansd. oft, soft, loft]. c1440Promp. Parv. 231/1 Hawntyn, or ofte vsyn. 1442Rolls of Parlt. V. 54/2 Upon the peyne of xl. li., to be forfait as ogwhte as they do the contrarie. 1470–85Malory Arthur xvi. xvi, Thenne ofte Colgreuaunce cryed vpon syre Bors. 1512Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 1 §4 As ofte and as many tymes as nede shall require. c1582E. 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).
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past lvi. 435 Hi beoþ ðæs ðe lator ðe hi oftor ymbðeahtiað. c1175Lamb. Hom. 21 We sunegiet..welle ofter þene we scolde. 1297[see oftsithe]. c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 608 If thou bigyle me any ofter than ones. c1449Pecock Repr. i. viii. 39 That the reders be the more and the oftir remembrid. 1551Turner Herbal (1568) P iij, I haue not sene it in Englande ofter than ones. 1615Latham Falconry (1633) 16 The more ofter that you doe use her unto them, the quieter she will be. 1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Ofter, more frequently. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 907 She laughed sometimes..But ofter she was sorrowful. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Ofter, more frequently, oftener.
superl.: 1 oftost, -ust, 3–7 -est. ? Obs.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 4 Forðon oftust mið feotrum & mið hracenteᵹum ᵹebunden wæs. a1225Leg. Kath. 114 Ah eauer ha hefde on hali writ ehnen oðer heorte, oftest ba togederes. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 439 That he þat seith most sothest [v.r. oftest seiþ soþ]. 1480Caxton Descr. Brit. 23 Netheles oftest and longest they were vnder the kyngis of Mercia. 1599Jas. I βασιλ. Δωρον (1682) 35 Vertue followeth oftest noble blood. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 228 Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreck'd.
b. At frequent intervals of space. rare.
1617Moryson Itin. i. 30 Of the villages oft intermixed, some are subject to the Margrave..and some to divers Bishops. 1634Sir 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.
a1586Sidney Arcadia (1622) 121 Partaker of this oft⁓blinding light. 1671Milton Samson 575 Oft-invocated death. 1715–20Pope Iliad xiii. 495 The oft-heav'd axe. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. cxxiii, Reaping the whirlwind from the oft-sown winds. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles v. 39 To thwart an oft-told prophecy. 1858in Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. VI. 318 The attacks of an oft-recurring malady. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. v. 270 An old and oft-repeated tale. 1906P. 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. 1922Joyce Ulysses 269 Her first merciful lovesoft oftloved word. 1954O. Nash Face is Familiar (rev. ed.) 115 The oft-quoted remark of the prominent and respectable dignitary. 1976M. 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.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 311 Þis hermyte..was blynde for ofte wepynge þat he usede in his beedes. c1450tr. De Imitatione i. i. 2 Many feliþ but litel desire of offte heringe of þe gospel. 1483Cath. Angl. 258/2 Ofte, creber, frequens, nu[m]erosus. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark 74 b, I ascribe my safety to myne oft fastynges. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. (Arb.) 85 To breede occasion of ofter meeting of him and her. 1624Quarles Div. Poems, Sion's Sonn. xx. 17 Brests, whose beautie reinvites My oft remembrance to her oft delights. 1671Milton Samson 382 Warn'd by oft experience.
C. Comb. With ns. denoting time, as † oft-seasons; see also oftsithe, -s, oft-time, -s.
1542Udall 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.
1575Gamm. Gurton iii. iii, Did I (olde witch) steal oft was thine? 1576Parad. Dainty Devices, If I may of wisedome oft define. 1590–[see ought v.]. |