Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time. · An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby. · Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite topic”). · Painting and building miniatures (as opposed to playing the game)
From Middle English hoby (“small horse, pony”), a variant or alteration of hobyn (“a small ambling horse”), of uncertain and disputed origin. According to one theory the term is derived from Hobin, a pet name of Robert or Robin, at the time frequently used as a proper name for a workhorse (compare dobbin). Alternatively, possibly from Anglo-Norman hobyn, Old French hobin, obin ("a nag, hobby"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino): either derived from Old French hober, ober (“to stir, move”), from Old Dutch *hobbon ("to toss, move up and down"; whence Middle Dutch hobbelen (“to bump along”)); or possibly from North Germanic origin related to Danish hoppe (“a mare”), Old Swedish hoppa (“a young mare”), North Frisian hoppe (“horse”); both routes ultimately deriving from Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to bob, hop”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend; a bend, joint”). More at hop, hobble. The modern sense of "pastime, activity of interest" is a clipping of hobby horse, which had 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".
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionhobyenm · small horse, pony
- Derivation mentionhobinfro
- Cognate mentionaubinfr
- Cognate mentionubinoit
- Derivation mentionhoberfro
- Derivation mention*hobbonodt
- Cognate mentionhobbelendum · to bump along
- Cognate mentionhoppeda · a mare
- Cognate mentionhoppagmq-osw · a young mare
- Cognate mentionhoppefrr · horse
- Derivation mention*huppōnągem-pro · to bob, hop
- Derivation mention*kewb-ine-pro · to bend; a bend, joint
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "hoby",
"t": "small horse, pony"
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"expansion": "Middle English hoby (“small horse, pony”)"
},
{
"name": "unc",
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"title": "uncertain and disputed origin"
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},
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"2": "xno",
"3": "hobyn"
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"expansion": "Anglo-Norman hobyn"
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{
"name": "der",
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"2": "fro",
"3": "hobin"
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"expansion": "Old French hobin"
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{
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"1": "fr",
"2": "aubin"
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"expansion": "French aubin"
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{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "ubino"
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"expansion": "Italian ubino"
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{
"name": "gl",
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"1": "\"a nag, hobby\"; > Modern French <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"fr\">aubin</i>, Italian <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"it\">ubino</i>"
},
"expansion": "(\"a nag, hobby\"; > Modern French aubin, Italian ubino)"
},
{
"name": "der",
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"3": "hober"
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"expansion": "Old French hober"
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{
"name": "der",
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"2": "odt",
"3": "*hobbon"
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"expansion": "Old Dutch *hobbon"
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{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "dum",
"2": "hobbelen",
"t": "to bump along"
},
"expansion": "Middle Dutch hobbelen (“to bump along”)"
},
{
"name": "gl",
"args": {
"1": "\"to toss, move up and down\"; whence Middle Dutch <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"dum\">hobbelen</i> (“to bump along”)"
},
"expansion": "(\"to toss, move up and down\"; whence Middle Dutch hobbelen (“to bump along”))"
},
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"3": "-"
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"expansion": "North Germanic"
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{
"name": "cog",
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"2": "hoppe",
"t": "a mare"
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"expansion": "Danish hoppe (“a mare”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "gmq-osw",
"2": "hoppa",
"t": "a young mare"
},
"expansion": "Old Swedish hoppa (“a young mare”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "frr",
"2": "hoppe",
"t": "horse"
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"expansion": "North Frisian hoppe (“horse”)"
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{
"name": "der",
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"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*huppōną",
"t": "to bob, hop"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *huppōną (“to bob, hop”)"
},
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"name": "der",
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"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*kewb-",
"t": "to bend; a bend, joint"
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"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *kewb- (“to bend; a bend, joint”)"
},
{
"name": "clipping",
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"1": "en",
"2": "hobby horse",
"nocap": "1"
},
"expansion": "clipping of hobby horse"
}
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[
"Robin",
"Robin#English"
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[
"*huppōną",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/huppōną"
],
[
"*kewb-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kewb-"
],
[
"hop",
"hop#English"
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[
"hobble",
"hobble#English"
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[
"hobby horse",
"hobby horse#English"
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"references": [],
"descendants": [
{
"lang": "Catalan",
"lang_code": "ca",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Danish",
"lang_code": "da",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
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{
"lang": "Dutch",
"lang_code": "nl",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "French",
"lang_code": "fr",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Galician",
"lang_code": "gl",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "German",
"lang_code": "de",
"word": "Hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Italian",
"lang_code": "it",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"lang_code": "nb",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"lang_code": "nn",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Polish",
"lang_code": "pl",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Portuguese",
"lang_code": "pt",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Romanian",
"lang_code": "ro",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Russian",
"lang_code": "ru",
"word": "хобби",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
],
"roman": "xobbi"
},
{
"lang": "Spanish",
"lang_code": "es",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
},
{
"lang": "Swedish",
"lang_code": "sv",
"word": "hobby",
"raw_tags": [
"borrowed"
]
}
],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.",
"An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby.",
"Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite topic”).",
"Painting and building miniatures (as opposed to playing the game)"
],
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