albeit

English

Alternative forms

albe

Etymology

From the Middle English expression al be it (that), itself shortened from althagh it be that (“although it be that”), and thus composed from al (“completely, entirely”) +‎ be (3rd person singular present subjunctive of been (“to be”)) +‎ it.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ɔːlˈbiː.ɪt/
(US) IPA^(key): /ɔlˈbi.ət/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ɑlˈbi.ɪt/
Audio (US) (file)

Conjunction

albeit

Although, despite (it) being.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vi], page 170:
  Jess. Who are you? tell me for more certainty,
  Albeit Ile sweare that I do know your tongue.
- 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 92:
  The stranger had crossed a sacred line. He had mentioned the men’s mothers. Nothing could get him out of a beating now, even the fact that he was obviously a simpleton. Albeit a simpleton with a good vocabulary.
- 2007 June 17, Ellen Marrus, Houston Chronicle:
  There’s an easy, albeit expensive, way to fix the national crisis in forensic crime labs.
- 2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport‎:
  Up front, skipper and open-side Lewis Moody looked almost back to full fitness, while England's set-piece was barely troubled, albeit against a Romania side showing 11 changes from that beaten by Argentina earlier in the week.

Usage notes

The word albeit historically also introduced an independent clause as although does (as in the Shakespearean quote above); however after the Early Modern English period, it ceased to do so, and today only introduces a noun phrase, adjectival phrase, adverbial phrase, or dependent clause.
Rarely, albethey is used when the meaning is “despite (the multiple things) being” rather than “despite (the single thing) being”; this is nonstandard, based on a reanalysis of albeit.

Synonyms

as much as, though; see also Thesaurus:even though

Related terms

howbeit

Translations

despite its being; although

Arabic: وَلَو‎ (walaw)
Bulgarian: мака́р (bg) (makár), мака́р и (makár i)
Catalan: encara que (ca), tanmateix (ca), però (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 雖然／虽然 (zh) (suīrán)
Czech: třebaže (cs)
Danish: omend, selv om
Dutch: alhoewel (nl), hoewel (nl), ofschoon (nl)
Esperanto: kvankam (eo)
Finnish: vaikka (fi), vaikkakin (fi), joskin (fi)
French: bien que (fr), quoique (fr)
Galician: inanque, aínda que, maxer, macar (gl), decasí, porén (gl), malia, embora, orasme, decontra, emporiso (gl), noustante
German: wenn auch, wenngleich (de), obgleich (de), obschon (de)
Greek: καίτοι (el) (kaítoi), μολονότι (el) (molonóti)
Gujarati: જોકે (joke), પરંતુ (parantu), તેમ છતાં (tem chatā̃)
Hebrew: אַף כִּי‎ (af ki), אַף עַל פִּי‎ (af al pi)
Hindi: किन्तु (hi) (kintu), परन्तु (hi) (parantu)
Ido: quankam (io)
Italian: benché (it)
Japanese: とはいえ (to wa ie), ではあるが (de wa aru ga)
Latin: etsi (la)
Lithuanian: nors ir
Norwegian: selv om (no), om enn
Occitan: malgrat, tot ben que, encara que
Persian: اگرچه‎ (fa) (agarče), هرچند‎ (fa) (harčand)
Polish: chociaż (pl), acz (pl), aczkolwiek (pl)
Portuguese: se bem que (pt), mesmo que, ainda que
Romanian: totuși (ro), dar (ro)
Russian: хотя́ (ru) (xotjá)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: иако, мада, премда, чак и ако
Roman: iako (sh), mada, premda (sh), čak i ako
Slovak: aj keď
Slovene: četudi (sl), čeprav (sl)
Spanish: aunque (es), no obstante (es), si bien (es)
Swedish: om än
Turkish: her ne kadar (tr), yine (tr), gerçi (tr), ise de

Anagrams

albite, betail, libate

Yola

Alternative forms

albiet, abeit

Etymology

From the Middle English expression al be it (that), itself shortened from althagh it be that (“although it be that”).

Conjunction

albeit

unless, except

References

Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 22