hobby
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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
hobby (plural hobbies)
- An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
- I like to collect stamps from different countries as a hobby.
- take up a hobby
- give up your hobby
- (equestrianism) An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby
Synonyms
- (activity done for enjoyment in spare time): avocation, pastime; See also Thesaurus:hobby
Derived terms
Related terms
- hobbyhorse (noun)
- hobelar/hobeler
Descendants
Translations
activity done for enjoyment in spare time
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Etymology 2
From Middle English hoby, hobeye, from Old French hobé, hobei, hobet, from Medieval Latin hopētus, diminutive of harpe.
Noun
hobby (plural hobbies)
- Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.
- 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 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
- African hobby, Falco cuvierii
- Australian hobby, Falco longipennis
- Eurasian hobby, Falco subbuteo
- Oriental hobby, Falco severus
Translations
Falco subbuteo
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See also
Catalan
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
hobby m (plural hobbies)
- hobby
- Synonym: passatemps
References
Further reading
- “hobby”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “hobby” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Czech
Noun
hobby n
- hobby (activity)
Declension
Declension of hobby (mostly indeclinable neuter)
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | hobby | hobby |
| genitive | hobby | hobby |
| dative | hobby | hobby |
| accusative | hobby | hobby |
| vocative | hobby | hobby |
| locative | hobby | hobby |
| instrumental | hobby, hobbym | hobby |
Danish
Etymology
Noun
hobby c (singular definite hobbyen, plural indefinite hobbyer)
- hobby (activity)
Inflection
Declension of hobby
| common gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | hobby | hobbyen | hobbyer | hobbyerne |
| genitive | hobbys | hobbyens | hobbyers | hobbyernes |
Synonyms
Further reading
- “hobby” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Etymology
Pronunciation
audio (file) - Hyphenation: hob‧by
Noun
hobby m (plural hobby's, diminutive hobby'tje n)
- hobby (activity)
Synonyms
Finnish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
hobby (dated)
- (now nonstandard) Synonym of harrastus (“hobby”).
- 1938, Sinclair Lewis, translated by Väinö Jaakkola, Tuhlaajavanhemmat: romaani [The Prodigal Parents], W. Söderström:
- En luulisi teillä olevan kirouksenanne hobbyja, kuten minulla on.
- I shouldn't have thought you were cursed with hobbies, as I am.
- 1953, Eduskunta (Finnish Parliament), Pöytäkirjat (Minutes):
- Sellainen henkilö, joka itse ei ole harrastanut tätä hobbya, virkistyskalastusta, (...)
- A person who hasn't themselves tried this hobby, recreational fishing, (...)
- 1967, Yrjö A. Jäntti, Martti Haavio, Suomen sana: kansalliskirjallisuutemme valiolukemisto, volume 24, W. Söderström:
- Hobbyjen ei tarvitse noudattaa jo edellä mainittua kaupallista linjaa.
- Hobbies need not be commercial in the same way as previously mentioned.
Declension
| Inflection of hobby (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | hobby | hobbyt | ||
| genitive | hobbyn | hobbyjen | ||
| partitive | hobbya | hobbyja | ||
| illative | hobbyyn | hobbyihin | ||
| singular | plural | |||
| nominative | hobby | hobbyt | ||
| accusative | nom. | hobby | hobbyt | |
| gen. | hobbyn | |||
| genitive | hobbyn | hobbyjen | ||
| partitive | hobbya | hobbyja | ||
| inessive | hobbyssa | hobbyissa | ||
| elative | hobbysta | hobbyista | ||
| illative | hobbyyn | hobbyihin | ||
| adessive | hobbylla | hobbyilla | ||
| ablative | hobbylta | hobbyilta | ||
| allative | hobbylle | hobbyille | ||
| essive | hobbyna | hobbyina | ||
| translative | hobbyksi | hobbyiksi | ||
| abessive | hobbytta | hobbyitta | ||
| instructive | — | hobbyin | ||
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | |||
Further reading
- “hobby”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (aspirated h) IPA(key): /ɔ.bi/
Noun
hobby m (plural hobbies or hobbys)
- hobby (activity)
- Synonym: passe-temps
Further reading
- “hobby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
Interlingua
Noun
hobby
- hobby (activity)
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.
Pronunciation
Noun
hobby m (invariable)
- hobby (activity)
Related terms
Further reading
- hobby in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Noun
hobby m (definite singular hobbyen, indefinite plural hobbyer, definite plural hobbyene)
- a hobby (leisure activity)
References
- “hobby” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Noun
hobby m (definite singular hobbyen, indefinite plural hobbyar, definite plural hobbyane)
- a hobby (leisure activity)
References
- “hobby” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.
Pronunciation
Noun
hobby n (indeclinable)
- hobby, passion (activity to which one devotes a lot of time and resources)
- Synonyms: konik, pasja, zainteresowanie, zajawka, zamiłowanie
Related terms
Further reading
- hobby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- hobby in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɔbi
Noun
hobby m (plural hobbies)
- hobby (an activity that one enjoys doing in one’s spare time)
- Synonym: passatempo
Further reading
Romanian
Etymology
Noun
hobby n (plural hobby-uri)
Declension
Declension of hobby
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) hobby | hobby-ul | (niște) hobby-uri | hobby-urile |
| genitive/dative | (unui) hobby | hobby-ului | (unor) hobby-uri | hobby-urilor |
| vocative | hobby-ule | hobby-urilor | ||
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.
Pronunciation
Noun
hobby m (plural hobbys)
- hobby (activity)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
- “hobby”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.
Noun
hobby c
- hobby (activity)
Declension
| Declension of hobby | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | hobby | hobbyn | hobbyer | hobbyerna |
| Genitive | hobbys | hobbyns | hobbyers | hobbyernas |
Further reading
- hobby in Svensk ordbok.