behove (third person singular simple present darling, present partizip behoving, past simple and participle past behoved) This term is usually found as part of a dative sentence that begins with to, to or to; For example, « to þy behove » means « to your advantage ». Perhaps it is up to me to turn to this dear uncle if a reasonable opportunity is offered. The mode in which she had to dress to go to an ordinary dinner was almost unknown to her. Middle English behoven, from the Old English behÅfian, from behÅf Le Cid replied that it would be wrong for him to advise his ruler to contradict the will of the late king. If he goes to these parents, which I believe will be good for him, it will be up to him to walk humbly and respectfully to the right. From the Middle English behoven, bihoven (« to be necessary, required; forced or demanded (to do something) »), from Old English behōfian (« need; be necessary »), from proto-Germanic *bihōfōną (« Advantage, behoof, Profit; need »), finally proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (« to grasp, to grasp »). The word is related to the Old Frisian bihōvia (« brauchen »), the Dutch behoeven (« brauchen »), the obsolete German behufen (cf. Behuf), the Danish behøve (« brauchen »), the Norwegian behøve (« brauchen »), the Swedish behöva (« Gebrauch haben, brauchen »). The obligation of such a thing, even if it is set forth in covenants, is therefore incumbent upon us to continue.
Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press! Find the answers online with Practical English Usage, your essential guide to English language problems. Find out which words work together and create more natural English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. before the 12th century, in the sense defined in the transitive sense.