'albeit'

[Leo A. Connolly]

"Douglas G. Wilson" wrote:

> Reports of the death of this word once again appear to be exaggerated.

> The Merriam-Webster usage dictionary discusses the repeated
> at-least-partially-imaginary resurrection of the word, and remarks:

> "_albeit_ seems never to have gone out of use, though it may have faded
> somewhat in the later 19th century." (<note time)

> Also: "it has ... considerably increased in use since the 1930s ...."
> (<note time)

> Copperud and Gowers/Fowler are cited as remarking on the word's supposed
> resurrection, 1965-1980. (<note time)

> Citations are given including Churchill (1937), Nabokov (1941), Frost
> (1942), Santayana (1944), etc., etc., up to 1985 (in my 1989 edition).

> My own perception is that "albeit" was ordinary in 1960's writing and is
> ordinary now. I admit that it has a sort of "old-fashioned" flavor, though
> ... perhaps this is a misperception of a register distinction?

I agree.  It *is* a fairly ordinary word and always has been, as far as
I can tell.

Leo Connolly