English

by and by

After a short time.

    Etymology graph

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    Origin

    From Middle English by and by (“side by side, close together, alongside, on and on, continually, again and again, repeatedly”), equivalent to by + and + by.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishby and by “side by side, close together, alongside, on and on, continually, again and again, repeatedly”
    • surface analysisEnglishby “Near or next to.”
    • surface analysisEnglishand “Used simply to connect two noun phrases, adjectives or adverbs.”

    Sources