aby

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See also: Aby

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]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

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

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To pay for; to buy. [12th-16th c.][1]
  2. (transitive, archaic) To pay the penalty for; to atone for, to make amends. [from 12th c.][1]
    • c. 1385, William Langland, chapter 2, in Piers Plowman:
      Ȝe shul abiggen it bothe · bi god þat me made.
    • 1605, Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, III,ii:
      Lest to thy peril thou aby it dear.
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To pay the penalty; atone. [12th-16th c.][1]
  4. (transitive, archaic) To pay as penalty, to suffer. [from 12th c.][1]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:
      Who dyes, the utmost dolor doth abye; / But who that lives is lefte to waile his losse […] .
    • 1896, William Morris, The Earthly Paradise:
      Thou wouldst abye a heavy fate.
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) Endure; remain. [14th-16th c.][1]
  6. (transitive, obsolete, now limited to Scotland) Endure; experience; tolerate. [from 16th c.][1]

Usage notes[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0198605751), page 11

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. so that, in order to, so

Further reading[edit]

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

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

aby (defective, invariable)

  1. Contraction of až by (“that... would”).

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

aby

  1. to, in order to, so that

Further reading[edit]

  • aby in Polish dictionaries at PWN
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