hobby

See also Hobby

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Shortened from hobby-horse, from Middle English hoby, hobyn, hobin (small horse, pony), from Old French hobi, *haubi, haubby, hobin ("a nag, hobby"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino), of Germanic origin: from Old French hober, ober (to stir, move), from Old Dutch hobben (to toss, move up and down); or from North Germanic origin related to Danish hoppe (a mare), Old Swedish hoppa (a young mare), North Frisian hoppe (horse); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (to hop), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (to bend; a bend, joint). More at hop, hobble.

The meaning of hobby-horse shifted from "small horse, pony" to "child's toy riding horse" to "favorite pastime or avocation" with the connecting notion being "activity that doesn't go anywhere". Possibly originally from a proper name for a horse, a diminutive of Robert or Robin (compare dobbin).

Noun

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia hobby (plural hobbies)

  1. An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
    I like to collect stamps from different countries as a hobby.
  2. (horses) An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

From Old French hobet, from Medieval Latin hobētus, diminutive of hobe.

Noun

hobby (plural hobbies)

  1. Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.
    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 323:
      He hawked – from nearby Esher, Richard Fox sent a servant with a hobby, which Henry received enthusiastically – and hunted, sending a present of freshly slaughtered deer to Princess Mary.
Derived terms
Translations

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Czech

Noun

hobby n

  1. hobby (activity)

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Danish

Danish Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia da

Noun

hobby c (singular definite hobbyen, plural indefinite hobbyer)

  1. hobby (activity)

Synonyms

  • fritidsinteresse

Inflection


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Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

hobby m (plural hobby's, diminutive hobby'tje)

  1. hobby (activity)

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Finnish

Noun

hobby

  1. hobby (activity)

Declension

Synonyms


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French

Etymology

from English

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbies) (alternative plural hobbys)

  1. hobby (activity)

Synonyms


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Interlingua

Noun

hobby

  1. hobby (activity)

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Italian

Noun

hobby m (invariable)

  1. hobby (activity)
  2. (in the plural) hobbies

Related terms

  • hobbysto
  • hobbystico

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Polish

Noun

hobby

  1. hobby (activity)

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Portuguese

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbies or hobbys)

  1. hobby (activity)

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Spanish

Etymology

From English.

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbys)

  1. hobby (activity)

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Swedish

Noun

hobby c

  1. hobby (activity)
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Last modified on 19 May 2013, at 16:29