behave

Pronunciation: /bᵻˈheɪv/

The English word “behave” has 4 meanings listed here.

verb

To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way; to conform.
To act, conduct oneself in a specific manner; used with an adverbial of manner.
To conduct, manage, regulate (something).
To act in a polite or proper way.

Etymology

From Middle English behaven, bihabben (“to restrain, behave”), from Old English behabban (“to surround, embrace, hold, contain, hold back, withhold, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan, equivalent to be- + have. Cognate with Middle Low German behebben, behāven (“to receive, acquire, reach, keep”), Low German behebben (“to act, behave”), German behaben (“to behave”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.