aby

See also: Aby

English

Alternative forms

• abigg (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, US) IPA^(key): /əˈbaɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

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.]
2. (transitive, archaic) To pay the penalty for; to atone for, to make amends. [from 12th c.]
   • 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.]
4. (transitive, archaic) To pay as penalty, to suffer. [from 12th c.]
   • 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.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, volume III:

     Nought that wanteth rest can long aby.

6. (transitive, obsolete, now limited to Scotland) Endure; experience; tolerate. [from 16th c.]
   • 1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, David Balfour:

     I never could abye the reek of them.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• (to pay for): purchase, procure; See also Thesaurus:buy
• (to pay the penalty for): make amends, make up
• (to pay the penalty): atone, expiate, propitiate
• (to pay as penalty): suffer, sustain
• (to endure): go on, hold on; See also Thesaurus:persist
• (to tolerate): brook, put up with; See also Thesaurus:tolerate

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

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈabɨ]

Verb

aby (defective, invariable)

1. Contraction of až by.

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.bɨ/

• audio

  (file)

Conjunction

aby

1. to, in order to, so that

Further reading

• 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