behabban

Old English

Etymology

Equivalent to be- +‎ habban.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈxɑb.bɑn/,

Verb

behabban

1. (transitive) to surround or embrace something
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:

     Ðīne fȳnd behabbaþ ðē.

     Your enemies surround you.

2. (transitive) to hold or contain somebody or something
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:

     Māran endebyrdnysse þonne ðis godspel behæfð.

     More circumstances than this gospel contains.

3. (intransitive) to understand something (+ dative or + on)
4. (transitive) to withhold or hold something back
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:

     Behæfð God his mildheortnesse.

     God withholds his mercy.

5. (transitive) to restrain or detain somebody
   • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:

     Hī behæfdon hine.

     They detained him.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• behæfednes f (“detention, care”)

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “'be-habban'”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “'be-habban'”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.