often

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This often is a bit hard to see because we cover up those basic goals with layers of surface objectives.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adverb Many times; frequently.
  2. usage note
    During the 15th century English experienced a widespread loss of certain consonant sounds within consonant clusters, as the (d) in handsome and handkerchief, the (p) in consumption and raspberry, and the (t) in chestnut and often. In this way the consonant clusters were simplified and made easier to articulate. With the rise of public education and literacy and, consequently, people's awareness of spelling in the 19th century, sounds that had become silent sometimes were restored, as is the case with the t in often, which is now frequently pronounced. In other similar words, such as soften and listen, the t generally remains silent.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • Putting aside the fact that fillers in anime adaptation of manga often are a necessary vice to deal with the reality of TV scheduling, there is something inherently wrong with it. —  Anime Nano!
  • This often is the case when homeowners hire a remodeling firm to make structural changes.
  • Bumping into each other often was also spontaneous, unplanned and in unlikely places, like on the light rail or on shuttles. —  Everyday Citizen
  • In South Carolina, more peanuts often translates into fewer rotation acres available and subsequent increase in frequency of peanut use and increasing white mold problems. —  Southeast Farm Press RSS Feed
  • A diluted mass marketing effort often translates to the squandering of advertising resources. —  Find Free Articles - ArticlesBase
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, alteration (probably influenced by selden, seldom) of oft, from Old English; see upo in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English often, usually and orig. oft, ofte, the irreg. addition -en being due in part to the natural expansion of ofte in the compounds ofte-time, ofte-sithe, ofte-sithes, in which the first element took on an adjective semblance, with the quasi-adjective termination -en, as in often-times, often-sithes, etc. The addition may also have been due in part to association with the opposite seldom, formerly also seldon, in which, as also in whilom, the termination is adverbial, orig. the suffix of the dative plural of nouns, many nouns in that case being used adverbially.
  2. from often, adv.
 

Pronunciations
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/ˈɔfn/
by American Heritage
by Grant Barrett
by Josephine Howland

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