Word.ws English Dictionary

many a time and oft

many a time and oft adverb: frequently.

Adverb

many a time and oft (not comparable)

  1. (archaic, idiomatic, literary) Frequently.
    • Signor Antonio, many a time and oft
      In the Rialto you have rated me
      About my monies, and my usances:c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • And all that winter, when at night
      The wind blew from the mountain-peak,
      'Twas worth your while, though in the dark,
      The church-yard path to seek:
      For many a time and oft were heard
      Cries coming from the mountain-head:1798, William Wordsworth, “The Thorn”, in Henry Reed, editor, The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, published 1851, page 183

Examples of many a time and oft in a sentence

  • Many a time and oft I heard of thee, but never did I hope to set eyes upon thee.[…]"1883, Howard Pyle, “How Little John Lived at the Sherriff’s”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles...
  • Many a time and oft were they wont to come there to that favourite nook to have a cosy chat beside the sparkling waves and discuss matters feminine,[…].1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13: Nausicäa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:

Forms of many a time and oft

alternative formmany a time and often

Origin of many a time and oft

Repetition for emphasis.

Questions about many a time and oft

What does many a time and oft mean?
Many a time and oft means frequently.
How do you use many a time and oft in a sentence?
Many a time and oft I heard of thee, but never did I hope to set eyes upon thee.[…]"
What part of speech is many a time and oft?
Many a time and oft is an adverb.

Words near many a time and oft in the dictionary

  1. Manxwomen
  2. many
  3. many a
  4. many a mickle makes a muckle
  5. many a time
  6. many a time and oft
  7. many a time and often
  8. many a times
  9. many an
  10. many and varied
  11. many and various

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: many a time and oft (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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