albeit
- 1Although, or despite being: used to add a point that qualifies what has just been said, usually before a word or phrase rather than a full clause.
They found a cheap, albeit slow, way to ship the furniture across the country.
The museum reopened in May, albeit with only half of its galleries.
Similaralthough, though, while
Note
It was once three words: Middle English al be it, "although it be", with the old subjunctive be still inside. Placed mid-sentence it is fenced off by commas, as in an easy, albeit expensive, way. In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare still follows it with a full clause, and Eoin Colfer lets it open a fragment: Albeit a simpleton with a good vocabulary.
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Origin
From the Middle English expression al be it (that), itself shortened from althagh it be that ("although it be that"). It is made up of al ("completely, entirely") + be (the present subjunctive of been, "to be") + it.