see also: Hobby
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 odt hobben; or from gmq - origin related to Danish hoppe, gmq-osw hoppa, Northern Frisian hoppe; both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *huppōną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewb-.
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".
Nounhobby (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
- (horses) An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby
- (activity done for enjoyment in spare time): avocation, pastime; See also Thesaurus:hobby
- hobbyhorse
- hobelar/hobeler
- French: passe-temps, hobby
- German: Hobby, Steckenpferd
- Italian: hobby, passatempo
- Portuguese: passatempo, hobby
- Russian: хо́бби
- Spanish: pasatiempo, hobby, afición
From Middle English hoby, hobeye, from Old French hobé, hobei, hobet, from Medieval Latin hopētus, diminutive of harpe.
Nounhobby (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.
- French: hobereau
- German: Baumfalke
- Italian: falco, falcone
- Portuguese: ógea
- Russian: чегло́к
- Spanish: alcotán
Hobby
Proper noun
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