What does abying mean?
Abying is the present participle and gerund of "aby," an archaic English verb meaning to pay the price or penalty for one's actions — to suffer the consequences of what one has done. In older literature, to aby a deed was to answer for it, whether through punishment, loss, or remorse; the phrase "to aby it sorely" conveyed that reckoning would come, and come hard. The verb derives from Old English ābīcgan, formed from the prefix ā- plus bīcgan, the same root that gives us the modern verb "buy," so the word's core image is literally that of purchasing — settling a debt incurred by wrongdoing. Abying flourished in Middle and Early Modern English, appearing in Chaucer and in Shakespearean drama, but it faded from ordinary speech centuries ago. Today it survives only in historical fiction, scholarly commentary, and deliberately archaic style, where it lends a weighty, almost legal gravity to the idea that every wrong must eventually be paid for.
verbAbying is the present participle and gerund of the archaic verb "aby," meaning to pay the penalty or price for something, or to endure the consequences of one's actions.
- To pay the penalty or price for an action; to suffer the consequences of one's deeds.
- To endure or bear (something) as a consequence.
"He knew he would be abying dearly for his reckless wager before the night was out."
"The traitor spent his final years abying for his betrayal of the crown."
"She warned him that he would be abying sorely if he broke his oath."
Before Shakespeare's audiences could say someone would 'rue the day,' they might say they'd be abying for it — an old word for paying life's bills that has all but vanished from modern English.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of abying
Abying comes from the Old English verb ābīcgan, formed from the intensive prefix ā- and bīcgan, meaning "to buy" — the ancestor of the modern English "buy." The original sense was thus literally "to buy back" or "pay for," which developed into "to pay the penalty for" and "to endure the consequences of." The verb was common in Middle English, notably in Chaucer, and remained in literary use into the Early Modern period, appearing in Shakespeare, before falling out of general use. Its Germanic root also connects it etymologically to "abide" in its older sense of enduring or awaiting.
Related word forms
How abying is actually used
Abying belongs to archaic and literary registers; it appears chiefly in Middle and Early Modern English texts, including Chaucer and Shakespeare, and survives today only in historical or deliberately antiquarian writing. It should not be used in contemporary prose without an awareness of its obsolete status.
Easily confused with abying
"Abiding" means enduring or lasting (as in an abiding love), while "abying" is the archaic act of paying a penalty or suffering consequences.