choćby

Polish

Etymology

From choć +‎ -by. First attested in 1549. Compare Kashubian chòcbë, and Silesian choćby.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔd͡ʑ.bɘ/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈxɔd͡ʑ.bɨ/

• Audio 1:

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• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -ɔd͡ʑbɘ
• Syllabification: choć‧by

Conjunction

choćby

1. (unreal conditional) even if; so much as

   Synonyms: choć, chociaż, chociażby, nawet gdyby

   Near-synonyms: jakkolwiek, żeby

2. denotes a lack of preference with a choice; either … or

Usage notes

Combined forms for this word are uncommon and often formed for stylization.

Declension

Combined forms of choćby

	singular	plural
1st person	choćbym	choćbyśmy
2nd person	choćbyś	choćbyście
3rd person	choćby	choćby

Particle

choćby

1. if only

   Synonyms: choć, chociaż, chociażby, przynajmniej

   Synonym: bodaj

2. for example, say

   Synonyms: bodaj, bodajby, chociażby, na przykład

3. (Middle Polish) even (in reality; implying an extreme example in the case mentioned, as compared to the implied reality)

   Synonym: nawet

Related terms

conjunction

• chociaż

 

noun

• chęć

 

verb

• chcieć

 

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), choćby is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 22 times in scientific texts, 9 times in news, 22 times in essays, 40 times in fiction, and 30 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 123 times, making it the 982nd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Further reading

• choćby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• choćby in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• “CHOĆBY”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 07.05.2010
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “choćby”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “choćby”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “choćby”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 288
• choćby in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “choćby 1-2”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)

Silesian

Etymology

From choć +‎ -by. Compare Polish choćby.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɔd͡ʑ.bɪ/
• Rhymes: -ɔd͡ʑbɪ
• Syllabification: choć‧by

Particle

choćby

1. as if

   Synonyms: choby, jakby

Conjunction

choćby

1. (unreal conditional) if

   Synonym: choby

Declension

Combined forms of choćby

	singular	plural
1st person	choćbych	choćbychmy
2nd person	choćbyś	choćbyście
3rd person	choćby	choćby

Further reading

• choćby in silling.org
• Henryk Jaroszewicz (2022) “cho(ć)by”, in Zasady pisowni języka śląskiego (in Polish), Siedlce: Wydawnictwo Naukowe IKR[i]BL, page 68