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behove

Pronunciation: /bɪˈhəʊv/

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

verb

  1. To befit, to suit.
  2. To be necessary for (someone).
  3. To be in the best interest of; to benefit.
  4. To be needful, meet or becoming.

Etymology

From Middle English behoven, bihoven (“to be necessary, requisite; to be compelled or required (to do something)”), from Old English behōfian (“to need; to be necessary”), from Proto-Germanic *bihōfōną (“to benefit, behove, need”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grab, seize”). The word is cognate with Old Frisian bihōvia (“to need”), Middle Low German behôven (“to need”) and Old…

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