It means "often". "Often" is actually a lengthened form of "oft"
Oft is a poetic way of saying "often."
Shakespeare's text is written in early modern English, not shakespeare talk. But I digress, oft means "often."
"Oft" is the same word as "often". You will notice that words with -en at the end will sometimes have a form without the -en ending. Thus "hap" and "happen", "ope" and "open". Many of these appear to be adjectives formed from the past forms of words or from nouns, as "wooden" from "wood", "hempen" from "hemp", "shotten" from "shot".
In the case of words like "often", the ending has survived after the reason for it has ceased to be.
Oft is an archaic word meaning: often.
Oft means often.
Oft is not a shortened word. Often is a lengthened word. The original word is oft and the form often did not appear until about a century before Shakespeare's day. They are, of course, the same word and mean the same thing.
Sorry, Shakespeare did not use that word.
Shakespeare does not use the word townsfolk.
In a forward direction.
'tis, ope, o'er, gi, ne'er, i', e'er, oft, a', e'ev are some abbreviations made be shakespeare
Oft is not a shortened word. Often is a lengthened word. The original word is oft and the form often did not appear until about a century before Shakespeare's day. They are, of course, the same word and mean the same thing.
Often
Yes, the word 'oft', but it is an archaic word or only used in 'literary' works.e.g."Oft expectation fails, and most oft thereWhere most it promises; and oft it hitsWhere hope is coldest, and despair most fits."[Shakespeare: All's Well That Ends Well, Scene II, Act I. Words spoken by Helena.]
Sorry, Shakespeare did not use that word.
It is an oft quoted phrase but it is not from any of Shakespeare's plays.
Shakespeare does not use the word townsfolk.
Oft is a poetic way of saying "often."
oft is a poetic word
In a forward direction.
Shakespeare wrote in English. "The" means exactly the same when he used it as it does when you use it.
loft
'tis, ope, o'er, gi, ne'er, i', e'er, oft, a', e'ev are some abbreviations made be shakespeare