Obs. or arch. Also 3–5 efte, (3 heft, Orm. efft). [OE. ęft = OS., OFris. eft, ON. eptir, eftir, eft:—OTeut. *aftiz adv. compar. deg., f. stem aft: see AFT. Cf. OE. lęng, compar. deg. of lang, LONG adv.]
1. A second time, again; back.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter lxx[i]. 20. Of neolnisse eorðan eft ðu alædes mec.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. viii. 10. Noe … asende ut eft culfran.
c. 1200. Ormin, 16638. Hu maȝȝ ald mann ben borenn efft.
c. 1205. Lay., 15081. Nu was Vortigerne æft [c. 1275 heft] king.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 24403. He cried ans and eft.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 105. Ontille Inglond eft he turned ouer þe se.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man Lawes T., 694. Eft were his lettres stolen everichon.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., XII. 267. Again the goode [chestnuts] under gravel be do, and tried efte and thries preve hem so.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (Arb.), 160. Many a word yfalne shall eft arise.
1607. Walkington, Opt. Glass, 75. Hee … vanished eft away.
b. Eft and eft: again and again. Eft … eft: first … then.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XVI. 145. Ȝif hym eft and eft euere at his neede.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 416. And as it drieth, efte and efte it dight.
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut., clxxviii. 1108/1. God as now remoue things eft at one-side and eft a tother.
2. Indicating sequence or transition in discourse: Again, moreover, likewise.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xviii. 19. Eft [c. 950 Lindisf. eft sona] ic eow secʓe.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 107. Ne eft he ne mei on his welan … modegian.
1340. Ayenb., 133. Yet eft þer is a stape huerinne is þe uolle of perfection of þise uirtue.
1432–50. trans. Higden (1865), I. 327. Meny nyȝtes in þe somer … þe sonne goþ nouȝt doun … and eft as many dayes in þe wynter … the sonne ariseþ nouȝt.
1533. Act 25 Hen. VIII., c. 13 § 12. It is efte declared by this presente acte, that [etc.].
1651. Gataker, Ridley, in Fuller, Abel Rediv., 195. It pleasing God eft even outwardly to imprint in the face and frame of his body, a living portraiture of those endowments.
3. Afterwards.
O. E. Chron., an. 685 (Parker MS.). Þone [sc. Mul] mon eft on Cent forbærnde.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 85. Sume men leden erest iuel liflode, and turnen eft to god.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., A. 332. He hit schal efte with tenez tyne.
1430. Lydg., Chron. Troy, I. vii. First with right make our selfe strong; And efte our force manly for to shewe, Of knyghtes chose taken out a fewe.
1528. More, Heresyes, IV. Wks. 269/2. Dauid fell … fyrst in aduoutrie & eft in manslaughter.
a. 1559. Cavill, in Mirr. Mag. (1563), B 2 b. Whom fortune brought to boote and efte to bale.
b. with never, if ever.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 49. He ualleð in to helle pine þer neuer eft ne cumeð of bote.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 11. Beo ha eanes fulliche forcoruen ne spruteð ha neauer eft.
c. 1314. Guy Warw. (A.), 2776. Ȝif þou haue euer eft nede to me.
c. 1325. Seven Sag. (P.), 302. Hys hert scholde to-breke, Ne schold he never eft more speke.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, II. xii. [xi.] 99. Neuir syne with ene saw I hir eft.
4. Comb. eft-sithe v. (in 2 eftsíðian) to return; eft-sith, -sithes adv., another time, once more; also, from time to time, often (cf. OFTESITHES). Also EFTSOON(S.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 119. Þet ure saule moten eft-siðian to him.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1901. Noe … sent þe dofe eftsith.
a. 1547. Earl Surrey, Æneid, II. 588. Which way eft-sithes … Andromache alone Resorted to the parents of her make.
1875. Whitby Gloss. (E. D. S.), Eftsith, often.
