hobby

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

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

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).

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.

   take up a hobby

   give up your hobby

2. (equestrianism) An extinct breed of horse native to the British Isles, also known as the Irish Hobby.
   • 1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Tom Tit Tot”, in English Fairy Tales, page 7:

     I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place in the wood I’d never seen before. And there was an old chalk-pit. And I heard a kind of a sort of humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went right quiet to the pit, and I looked down.

3. Synonym of hobby horse (“a favorite 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."

• (activity done for enjoyment in spare time): avocation, pastime; See also Thesaurus:hobby

• hobbyhorse (noun)
• hobelar/hobeler

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

hobby (plural hobbies)

1. 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.

• African hobby, Falco cuvierii
• Australian hobby, Falco longipennis
• Eurasian hobby, Falco subbuteo
• Oriental hobby, Falco severus

• hobby lantern

Borrowed from English hobby.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈɔ.βi]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɔ.bi]^[1]

hobby m (plural hobbies)

1. hobby

   Synonym: passatemps

• “hobby”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “hobby” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦobɪ]

hobby n

1. hobby (activity)

From English hobby.

hobby c (singular definite hobbyen, plural indefinite hobbyer)

1. hobby (activity)

• fritidsinteresse

• “hobby” in Den Danske Ordbog

From English hobby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɔ.bi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hob‧by

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

1. hobby (activity)

   Synonym: liefhebberij

From English hobby.

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

hobby (dated)

1. (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.

• “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 2 July 2023

Borrowed from English hobby.

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ɔ.bi/

hobby m (plural hobbies or hobbys)

1. hobby (activity)

   Synonym: passe-temps

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

hobby

1. hobby (activity)

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

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

• Audio:

  (file)

hobby m (invariable)

1. hobby (activity)

• hobbysto
• hobbystico

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

From English hobby.

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

1. a hobby (leisure activity)

• “hobby” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From English hobby.

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

1. a hobby (leisure activity)

• “hobby” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔb.bi/, /ˈxɔb.bɘ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔbbi, -ɔbbɘ
• Syllabification: hob‧by

hobby n (indeclinable)

1. hobby, passion (activity to which one devotes a lot of time and resources)

   Synonyms: konik, pasja, zainteresowanie, zajawka, zamiłowanie

• “hobby”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “hobby”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

• Rhymes: -ɔbi
• Homophone: (Brazil) robe

hobby m (plural hobbies)

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

   Synonym: passatempo

• “hobby”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from English hobby.

hobby n (plural hobby-uri)

1. hobby

• hobi

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

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

hobby m (plural hobbys)

1. hobby (activity)

   Synonyms: pasatiempo, afición

• 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.

• “hobby”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Unadapted borrowing from English hobby.

hobby c

1. hobby (activity)

• “hobby”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)