Oftentimes usage

[Gray]

"And oftentimes excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse." ~William Shakespeare

Is 'oftentimes' a replacement for 'many a time'?

My dictionary says that oftentimes means 'many times at regular intervals'.

Can we not think of not combining the 'regular intervals' with 'many times'? I guess, this is what the mentioned quote implies as a meaning of 'oftentimes'.
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First lesson - English, not english. I, not i. ~A student of English

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Gray,

Actually, it's not too complicated. "Many a time" seems like a good equivalent. The word "oftentimes" basically means the same thing as "often" or "frequently". However, it's not used nearly as often as "often" is.

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“Every heart has its secret sorrows which the world knows not, and oftentimes we call a man cold, when he is only sad.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow