aby

See also: Aby

English

Alternative forms

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).[1]

Pronunciation

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.][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

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], →ISBN), page 11

Anagrams

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

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈabɨ]

Verb

aby (defective, invariable)

  1. Contraction of až by.

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

Scots

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /əˈbaɪ/

Adverb

aby (comparative mair aby, superlative maist aby)

  1. (Doric) ago, past
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