offen

English

Etymology 1

Adverb

offen (comparative more offen, superlative most offen)

1. Eye dialect spelling of often.

Etymology 2

Adverb

offen (comparative more offen, superlative most offen)

1. (dialectal) Alternative form of off
   • 1893, Marietta Holley, Samantha at the World's Fair, page 79:

     His old rubber boots wuz all wore offen him, his clothes hangin' in rags and tatters where he had rushed through the woods and swamps, his feet and hands all froze.

   • 1909, Grace Miller White, Tess of the Storm Country, page 241:

     "If I tells Pa Satisfied that ye said that, Myry," muttered the boy, "he wouldn't wait for the law to handle Ben Letts — he'd shoot his dum head offen him quicker than a cat can blink."

   • 2018, William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone, Hang Him Twice (→ISBN):

     “The one Dooley won offen him.” The marshal stared hard at Dooley, then at Chester, then at his four deputies, then at Mort the undertaker, and finally at Blue, who was gnawing on a steak bone. “You read too many dime novels.”

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German

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle High German offen, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old High German offan, ofan, ophan, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *upanaz. Cognate with Low German open, apen, Dutch open, English open, Danish åben, Swedish öppen. Related to auf.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• Audio (Bavarian)

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔɔfɱ̩/, /ˈʔɔfən/

Adjective

offen (comparative offener, superlative am offensten)

1. open
2. frank, candid
3. honest, sincere

Antonyms

• zu
• geschlossen
• verschlossen
• abgeschlossen

Adverb

offen

1. openly

   Das müssen wir auch hier offen sagen.

   We must state this openly here.

Derived terms

• offenbar
• offensichtlich
• offenlassen
• offenlegen
• offenstehen
• öffnen
• öffentlich

Further reading

• “offen” in Duden online