lobby
See also: Lobby
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /lɒbi/
Audio (Berkshire) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒbi
- (US) IPA(key): /lɑbi/
Etymology 1
From Old French *lobie, from Medieval Latin lobium, lobia, laubia (“a portico, covered way, gallery”), borrowed from Frankish *laubijā (“arbour, shelter”).
Related to Old English lēaf (“foliage”). More at leaf. Doublet of loggia.
Political sense derives from the entrance hall of legislatures, where people traditionally tried to influence legislators because it was the most convenient place to meet them.
Noun
lobby (plural lobbies)
- An entryway or reception area; vestibule; passageway; corridor.
- I had to wait in the lobby for hours before seeing the doctor.
- That part of a hall of legislation not appropriated to the official use of the assembly.
- (politics) A class or group of interested people who try to influence public officials; collectively, lobbyists.
- The influence of the tobacco lobby has decreased considerably in the US.
- (video games) A virtual area where players can chat and find opponents for a game.
- (nautical) An apartment or passageway in the fore part of an old-fashioned cabin under the quarter-deck.
- A confined place for cattle, formed by hedges, trees, or other fencing, near the farmyard.
- A margin along either side of the playing field in the sport of kabaddi.
- (when preceded by "elevator") A waiting area in front of a bank of elevators.
Derived terms
- gun lobby
- lobbier
- lobbyism
- lobbyist
Descendants
Descendants of lobby in other languages
- → Armenian: լոբբի (lobbi)
- → Catalan: lobby
- → Danish: lobby
- → Dutch: lobby
- → French: lobby
- → German: Lobby
- → Italian: lobby
- → Japanese: ロビー (robī)
- → Korean: 로비 (robi)
- → Macedonian: лоби (lobi)
- → Polish: lobby
- → Portuguese: lóbi, lobby
- → Russian: ло́бби (lóbbi)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- → Cyrillic: лоби
- → Latin: lobi
- → Slovene: lobi
- → Spanish: lobby
Translations
entryway or waiting area; vestibule
|
group of people who try to lobby
|
Verb
lobby (third-person singular simple present lobbies, present participle lobbying, simple past and past participle lobbied)
- (intransitive, transitive) To attempt to influence (a public official or decision-maker) in favor of a specific opinion or cause.
- For years, pro-life groups have continued to lobby hard for restrictions on abortion.
- 2002, Jim Hightower, in Wikiquote
- The corporations don't have to lobby the government anymore. They are the government.
- 2011 Allen Gregory, "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1):
- Allen Gregory DeLongpre: Yeah, it's not a big deal. I lobbied for fuel-cell technology on Capitol Hill. I'm friends with Sandy Bullock, really good friends. Who cares? It's not a pissing contest, right, J?
- 2013 August 10, Schumpeter, “Cronies and capitols”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
- Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.
Related terms
- lobbying
- lobbyist
Translations
to attempt to influence
|
Etymology 2
Shortened from lobscouse.
Noun
lobby (uncountable)
- (West Midlands) lobscouse
- My mam cooked us lobby for tea last night.
Further reading
- lobby in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- lobby in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- lobby at OneLook Dictionary Search
French
Etymology
Borrowed from English lobby.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɔ.bi/
Audio (CAN) (file)
Noun
lobby m (plural lobbies)
- lobby (hall)
- lobby (advocacy group)
- Synonym: groupe de pression
Further reading
- “lobby”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɔb.bi/
- Rhymes: -ɔbbi
- Hyphenation: lòb‧by
Noun
lobby f (invariable)
- lobby (group of people; hall of a bank)
Derived terms
- lobbista
Further reading
- lobby in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English lobby, from Old French *lobie, from Medieval Latin lobium, lobia, laubia, from Frankish *laubijā.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlɔb.bɨ/, /ˈlɔb.bi/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɔbbɨ, -ɔbbi
- Syllabification: lob‧by
Noun
lobby n (indeclinable)
- (politics) lobby (group of people who try to lobby)
Derived terms
adjectives
- lobbistyczny
- lobbystyczny
nouns
- lobbing
- lobbista
- lobbysta
verb
- lobbować impf
Further reading
- lobby in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- lobby in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈlɔ.bi/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈlɔ.bi/ [ˈlɔ.βi]
Noun
lobby m (plural lobbies or (rare) lobbys)
- Alternative spelling of lóbi
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English lobby.
Noun
lobby n (uncountable)
- lobby
Declension
declension of lobby (singular only)
| singular | ||
|---|---|---|
| n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
| nominative/accusative | (un) lobby | lobbyul |
| genitive/dative | (unui) lobby | lobbyului |
| vocative | lobbyule | |
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English lobby. Doublet of lonja.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈlobi/ [ˈlo.β̞i]
- Rhymes: -obi
Noun
lobby m (plural lobbys)
- lobby (group of people who try to influence public officials)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
- “lobby”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014