What does abought mean?
'Abought' is the archaic past tense of 'abuy', an Old English-derived verb meaning to buy back, redeem, or ransom. In medieval usage, to abuy something was to recover it through payment — whether regaining lost land, freeing a captive, or atoning for a wrong through costly restitution. The word shares its Germanic roots with the everyday verb 'buy', but where 'buy' flourished, 'abuy' and its past tense gradually fell out of use, surviving today only in historical texts, legal records, and literary imitation of older English. Readers encountering 'abought' in Chaucer-era or Middle English-influenced writing may mistake it for the common preposition 'about', since the two look similar on the page, though their meanings are entirely unrelated. For modern purposes, 'abought' is best understood as a lexical fossil: a reminder that English once distinguished between simply purchasing a thing and paying to win it back. Contemporary writers needing the same idea would say 'redeemed', 'ransomed', or 'bought back'.
verbArchaic past tense of the obsolete verb 'abuy', meaning redeemed, ransomed, or paid for something.
- Past tense of the obsolete verb 'abuy': to have redeemed, ransomed, or bought back someone or something.
"The knight abought his brother's freedom with a heavy ransom of gold."
"He abought the ancestral estate that his family had lost a generation earlier."
"The prisoner abought his liberty at great cost to his family."
Before 'bought' there was 'abought' — a medieval English word for buying something back, now so rare that most dictionaries list it only as a historical curiosity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of abought
'Abought' derives from the Old English verb 'ābycgan' ('abuy'), formed with the prefix 'a-' attached to 'bycgan', the ancestor of the modern verb 'buy'. The prefix conveyed completion or accomplishment, so 'abuy' meant to carry out a purchase fully — specifically to redeem or buy something back. The verb and its past tense persisted into Middle English before fading from ordinary use, leaving 'buy' and 'bought' as the surviving members of the same Germanic word-family.
Related word forms
How abought is actually used
'Abought' is strictly archaic and appears only in historical or literary contexts; modern English uses 'redeemed', 'ransomed', or simply 'bought back'. It should not be used in contemporary writing except deliberately, for period effect.
Easily confused with abought
'About' is a common preposition or adverb meaning concerning or approximately, while 'abought' is an archaic verb form meaning redeemed or paid for.