hobby

hobby

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of hobby in English

English Online Dictionary. What means hobby‎? What does hobby mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɒbi
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhɒ.bi/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈhɑ.bi/

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)

  1. An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.
  2. (equestrianism) An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby
  3. Synonym of hobby horse (“favourite topic”)
    • 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days
      "Well, I think East is right," said Arthur; "I can't see but what it's right to do the best you can, though it mayn't be the best absolutely. Every man isn't born to be a martyr."
      "Of course, of course," said East; "but he's on one of his pet hobbies. — How often have I told you, Tom, that you must drive a nail where it'll go."
Synonyms
  • (activity done for enjoyment in spare time): avocation, pastime; See also Thesaurus:hobby
Derived terms
Related terms
  • hobbyhorse (noun)
  • hobelar/hobeler
Descendants
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English hoby, hobeye, from Old French hobé, hobei, hobet, from Medieval Latin hopētus, diminutive of harpe.

Noun

hobby (plural hobbies)

  1. Any of four species of small falcons in the genus Falco, especially Falco subbuteo.
Derived terms
  • African hobby, Falco cuvierii
  • Australian hobby, Falco longipennis
  • Eurasian hobby, Falco subbuteo
  • Oriental hobby, Falco severus
Translations

See also

  • hobby lantern

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Central) [ˈɔ.βi]
  • IPA(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɔ.bi]

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbies)

  1. 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

  1. hobby (activity)

Declension

Danish

Etymology

From English hobby.

Noun

hobby c (singular definite hobbyen, plural indefinite hobbyer)

  1. hobby (activity)

Inflection

Synonyms

  • fritidsinteresse

Further reading

  • “hobby” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

From English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: hob‧by

Noun

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

  1. hobby (activity)
    Synonym: liefhebberij

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology

From English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhobi/, [ˈho̞bi]
  • IPA(key): /ˈhobːi/, [ˈho̞bːi]
  • Rhymes: -obi

Noun

hobby (dated)

  1. (now nonstandard) Synonym of harrastus (“hobby”).

Declension

Further reading

  • “hobby”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[1] (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

Borrowed from English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • (aspirated h) IPA(key): /ɔ.bi/

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbies or hobbys)

  1. hobby (activity)
    Synonym: passe-temps

Further reading

  • “hobby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Interlingua

Noun

hobby

  1. hobby (activity)

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɔb.bi/
  • Rhymes: -ɔbbi
  • Hyphenation: hòb‧by

Noun

hobby m (invariable)

  1. hobby (activity)

Related terms

  • hobbysto
  • hobbystico

Further reading

  • hobby in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English hobby.

Noun

hobby m (definite singular hobbyen, indefinite plural hobbyer, definite plural hobbyene)

  1. a hobby (leisure activity)

References

  • “hobby” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English hobby.

Noun

hobby m (definite singular hobbyen, indefinite plural hobbyar, definite plural hobbyane)

  1. a hobby (leisure activity)

References

  • “hobby” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈxɔb.bi/, /ˈxɔb.bɘ/
  • Rhymes: -ɔbbi, -ɔbbɘ
  • Syllabification: hob‧by

Noun

hobby n (indeclinable)

  1. 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)

  1. hobby (an activity that one enjoys doing in one’s spare time)
    Synonym: passatempo

Further reading

  • “hobby”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English hobby.

Noun

hobby n (plural hobby-uri)

  1. hobby

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈxobi/ [ˈxo.β̞i]
  • Rhymes: -obi

Noun

hobby m (plural hobbys)

  1. hobby (activity)
    Synonyms: pasatiempo, afición

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 [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

Noun

hobby c

  1. hobby (activity)

Declension

Further reading

  • hobby in Svensk ordbok.

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.