Etymologically
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hobby

Etymology and origin of the English word hobby

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Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Middle English hoby

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhɒ.bi/ (UK); /ˈhɑ.bi/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hoby, hobyn “small horse”,[2][3][4][5] of uncertain origin,[3] probably from a pet form of the name Robin or Robert used as a name for a horse,[2][4][5] compare dobbin.[4][5] Old French hobi, hobin are now thought to be borrowings from English.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small or middle-sized horse; an ambling horse or pony (1375).[6][3][4] Barnhart dates the form hobyn to 1298.[3]

Semantic evolution

A hobby-horse was a toy or mock horse, such as a child's stick horse or the figure in the morris dance (1557).[3][4] From the 1670s hobby-horse also meant a favourite pastime,[4][3] perhaps with the idea of an activity that goes nowhere,[4] and hobby in this sense is a shortening of it (1816).[6][7][4] A separate word hobby, a small falcon, comes from Old French hobel.[2][7][5]

Timeline

  • 1298 – hobyn, a small horse.[3]
  • 1375 – a small horse or pony.[6]
  • 1557 – hobby-horse, a toy horse.[3]
  • 1676 – hobby-horse, a favourite pastime.[3]
  • 1816 – a favourite pursuit pursued for pleasure.[6][7][4]
  • 1819 – an early kind of bicycle.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation outside one's regular occupation.
  2. (archaic) A small horse.
  3. A child's hobbyhorse.

Word family

  • hobbyist
  • hobbyhorse
  • dobbin
  • Robin

Usage notes

The falcon called a hobby (Falco subbuteo) is a different word, from Old French hobel.[2][7][5][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Hobby.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/hobby. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·