aby

See also: Aby

English

Alternative forms

• abigg, abegge (obsolete)
• abye
• abuy

Etymology

From Middle English abyen, abien, abiggen, from Old English ābyċġan (“to buy; pay for; buy off; requite; recompense; redeem; perform; execute”), from Proto-Germanic *uzbugjaną, equivalent to a- +‎ buy. Cognate with Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌱𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usbugjan).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /əˈbaɪ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

aby (third-person singular simple present abys, present participle abying, simple past and past participle abought)

1. (transitive)
   1. (archaic) To pay the penalty for (something); to atone for, to make amends. [from 12th c.]

      Synonym: make up

      • [c. 1370–1390, [William Langland], “Passus secundus de visione”, in The Vision of Pierce Plowman [...] (in Middle English), London: […] Roberte Crowley, […], published 1550, OCLC 837479643, folio x, recto:

        The Notaries and ye noye the people / Ye ſhall abye it both by god that made me made

        The notaries and you annoy the people / You shall pay the penalty for it both, by God that made me!]

      • [c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii], page 154, column 2:

        Diſparage not the faith thou doſt not know, / Leſt to thy perill thou abide it deare.]

   2. (archaic, figuratively) To pay (something) as a penalty; to suffer (something). [from 12th c.]

      Synonym: sustain

      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book III, canto IV, stanza 38, page 455:

        Who dyes the vtmoſt dolor doth abye, / But who that liues, is lefte to waile his loſſe: / So life is loſſe, and death felicity.

      • 1870, William Morris, “February: Bellerophon in Lycia”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, part IV, London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], OCLC 51004898, page 339:

        We doubt thee not; / Thy tale seems true, nor dost thou glorify / Thyself herein—certes thou wouldst abye / A heavy fate if thou shouldst lie herein— […]

   3. (obsolete except Scotland) To endure or tolerate (something); to experience. [from 16th c.]

      Synonyms: brook, go on, hold on, put up with; see also Thesaurus:persist, Thesaurus:tolerate

      • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Wood by Silvermills”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, Ltd., OCLC 976747732, page 131:

        The muckle black deil was father to the Frasers, a'body kens that; and as for the Gregara, I never could abye the reek of them since I could stotter on two feet.

   4. (obsolete) To pay for (something); to buy. [12th–16th c.]

      Synonyms: procure, purchase; see also Thesaurus:buy

2. (intransitive, obsolete)
   1. To pay the penalty; to atone. [12th–16th c.]

      Synonyms: expiate, propitiate

   2. To endure; to remain. [14th–16th c.]
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book III, canto VII, stanza 3, pages 494–495:

        So long as breath, and hable puiſſaunce / Did natiue corage vnto him ſupply, / His pace he freſhly forward did aduaunce, / And carried her beyond all ieopardy, / But nought that wanteth reſt, can long aby.

Usage notes

• Aby and abide became confused with each other for a period of time.

Related terms

• abide

Anagrams

• Bay, YBA, bay

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈabɪ]

Conjunction

aby

1. so that, in order to, so

Related terms

• abych
• abychom
• abys
• abyste

Further reading

• aby in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• aby in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Lower Sorbian

Etymology

Univerbation of až (“that”) +‎ by (“would”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈabɨ/

Verb

aby (defective, invariable)

1. that… would

Further reading

• Arnošt Muka (1921, 1928) , “aby”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German, Russian), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted (in German)Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• aby in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

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Polish

Etymology

From a +‎ -by.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.bɨ/

• Audio

  (file)

Conjunction

aby

1. to, in order to, so that

   Synonyms: by, żeby, ażeby

Further reading

• aby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• aby in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈbaɪ/

Adverb

aby (comparative mair aby, superlative maist aby)

1. (Doric) ago, past