often
/ˈɒfən/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.41 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
Example Sentences
- "I often walk to work when the weather is nice."
- "I’ve been going to the movies more often since a new theatre opened near me."
- "It can't be said too often / often enough."
- "☞ This word [wrap] is often pronounced wrop, rhyming with top, even by ſpeakers much above the vulgar."
- "How often is the comfort of a whole family abridged by some trifling circumstance, that ought not to have made a visible impression!"
- "Although frogs are able to swim well and often are found in water, they are really land animals."
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɒfən/
- British English: /ˈɒfən/