behoove
English
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behoove
- /bɪˈhuːv/ Canada, US, UK
Rhymes with -uːv
Where it comes from
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 Saxon *bihōvōn, Dutch behoeven (“to need”), obsolete German behufen (cf. Behuf), Danish behøve (“to need”), Norwegian behøve (“to need”), Swedish behöva (“to have use for, to need”).
verb behooves · behooving · behooved · behooven · behove
- To befit, to suit. It ill behooves my mother to complain.
- To be necessary for (someone). Accordingly, Mr. Stryver inaugurated the Long Vacation with a formal proposal to take Miss Manette to Vauxhall Gardens; that failing, to Ranelagh; that unaccountably failing too, it behoved him to present himself in Soho, and there declare his noble mind.
- To be in the best interest of; to benefit. Seeing by the late alliance termed the Rhenish Confederacy, that Louis, King of France, has the most cunning and diabolic intentions on the Imperial Crown, thereby behoving all Germans to unite in a band of brotherhood.
- To be needful, meet or becoming. It behooved that the Sonne of God suld descend unto us, and tak himselfe a bodie of our bodie, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones, and so become the Mediator betwixt God and man, giving power to so many as beleeve in him, to be the sonnes of God; […]
Translations
Every language
verb to befit, to suit
| Español | corresponder, concernir, incumbir |
|---|---|
| Português | convir |
| Français | seoir |
| Deutsch | obliegen, sich geziemen, schicken, sich schicken, sich ziemen |
| Русский | подобать podobatʹ, сле́довать slédovatʹ, надлежа́ть nadležátʹ, приличествовать priličestvovatʹ |
| العربية | لاءم lāʔama |
verb to be necessary
| Español | incumbir |
|---|---|
| Français | incomber |
| Deutsch | notwendig sein |
| Ελληνικά | επιβαρύνω epivarýno |
| Русский | сле́довать slédovatʹ, надлежа́ть nadležátʹ |
verb to be in the best interest of
| Italiano | convenire |
|---|
Talk about this word "behoove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/behoove. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. behoove. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/behoove "behoove." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/behoove.Cite this
@misc{behoove_2026,
title = {behoove},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/behoove},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
