aby

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See also: Aby and ABY

Translingual[edit]

Symbol[edit]

aby

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Aneme Wake.

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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).[1] Not related to abide.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

aby (simple past and past participle abought, no other forms attested in Modern English)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (archaic) To pay the penalty for (something); to atone for, to make amends. [from 12th c.]
      Synonym: make up
    2. (archaic, figuratively) To pay (something) as a penalty, to atone for; to suffer (something). [from 12th c.]
      Synonym: sustain
    3. (obsolete except Scotland) To endure or tolerate (something); to experience. [from 16th c.][2]
      Synonyms: brook, go on, hold on, put up with; see also Thesaurus:persist, Thesaurus:tolerate
    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.]

Usage notes[edit]

The verb is almost always encountered with a modal verb, as in shall aby, could aby, etc. The gerund abuying of the alternative spelling abuy is found in one text; see that entry.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “aby”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
  2. ^ “aby, v.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old Czech aby, from Proto-Slavic *aby. By surface analysis, univerbation of a +‎ by.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

aby

  1. Denotes desire or wish; if only; had better
    Synonyms: kdyby, kéž by
    Už aby tu byli. ― I can't wait for them to come..
    Jenom aby! ― Let's hope!

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. so that, in order to, so

Inflection[edit]

singular plural
1st person abych abychom
2nd person abys abyste
3rd person aby aby

Further reading[edit]

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

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

aby (defective, invariable)

  1. that… would

Further reading[edit]

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

Old Czech[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *aby. By surface analysis, univerbation of a +‎ by.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

aby

  1. Denotes desire or wish; if only; had better

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. Introduces a subordinate clause expressing doubt.
  2. Introduces a subordinate clause with subjunctive meaning; let, may
  3. so that, in order to
  4. Introduces a subordinate clause with admissive meaning; even if, though

Inflection[edit]

singular dual plural
1st person abych abychově (-va) abychom (-me/-my)
2nd person aby abysta (-šta) abyste (-šte)
3rd person aby aby, abysta (-šta) aby, abychu

Descendants[edit]

  • Czech: aby

References[edit]

Old Polish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *aby. By surface analysis, univerbation of a +‎ by. First attested in the 15th century.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /abɨ/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /abɨ/

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. to, in order to, so that (connects sentences either to express the goal of a speaker, when the speaker wishes to communicate a command or wish) [+past tense = to do what]
  2. even though, although
  3. if

Particle[edit]

aby

  1. may, I wish, if only

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Polish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old Polish aby. By surface analysis, univerbation of a +‎ by.

Pronunciation[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. to, in order to, so that (connects sentences either to express the goal of a speaker, when the speaker wishes to communicate a command or wish) [+past tense = to do what]
    Synonyms: by, żeby, ażeby
    Mówię po to, aby nie było cicho. ― I am speaking so that it isn't quiet.
    Chcę, abyś jutro przyszedł. ― I want you to come tomorrow.
  2. to (used to connect a sequence of actions) [+infinitive = to do what]
    Synonyms: by, żeby, ażeby
    Usiadł, aby znowu wstać. ― He sat down to get right back up again.
  3. so long as (used to express a wish for anything) [+past tense = to do what]
    Zrób to byle jak, aby szybciej ― Do it any which way, as long as it's faster.
  4. just to, for the sake of
    Czytał aby czytał ― He read just to read

Declension[edit]

Combined forms of aby
singular plural
1st person abym abyśmy
2nd person abyś abyście
3rd person aby aby

Particle[edit]

aby

  1. (colloquial) expresses the speaker's certainty of their statement; happen to, isn't?
    Near-synonyms: czasami, czasem, przypadkiem
    Aby tam będzie? ― Do you really think he'll be there?

Derived terms[edit]

adverbs
conjunction
preposition

Trivia[edit]

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), aby is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 110 times in scientific texts, 81 times in news, 113 times in essays, 89 times in fiction, and 37 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 430 times, making it the 108th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[1]

Further reading[edit]

  • aby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • aby in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “aby”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • “ABY”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 07.05.2008
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “aby”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎[1], volume 1, page 3
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “aby”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎[2]
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “aby”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 4

Scots[edit]

Adverb[edit]

aby

  1. Doric form of abye (“ago, past”)

References[edit]

  • “aby” in Eagle, Andy, editor, The Online Scots Dictionary[4], 2016.

Silesian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old Polish aby. By surface analysis, univerbation of a +‎ by.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈabɨ/
  • Rhymes: -abɨ
  • Syllabification: a‧by

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. denotes aim or goal; to, in order to
    Synonyms: ażby, by, coby, iżeby, żeby

Further reading[edit]

  • aby in silling.org
  1. ^ Ida Kurcz (1990) “aby”, in Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej [Frequency dictionary of the Polish language]‎[5] (in Polish), volume 1, Kraków, Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Języka Polskiego, page 1
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