Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
behave. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
behave, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
behave in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
behave you have here. The definition of the word
behave will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
behave, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
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”).
Pronunciation
Verb
behave (third-person singular simple present behaves, present participle behaving, simple past and past participle behaved)
- (reflexive) To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way.
You need to behave yourself, young lady.
- (intransitive) To act, conduct oneself in a specific manner; used with an adverbial of manner.
He behaves like a child whenever she's around.
How did the students behave while I was gone?
My laptop has been behaving erratically ever since you borrowed it.
2014 April 21, “Subtle effects”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8884:Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese, a silvery metal, began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated.
- (obsolete, transitive) To conduct, manage, regulate (something).
c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 88:He did behave his anger ere 'twas spent.
- (intransitive) To act in a polite or proper way.
His mother threatened to spank him if he didn't behave.
2009, Roger L. Van Ommeren, From Rebellion to Submission, page 48:One time when Willie was more set on clowning than on learning about Jesus, Miss Helen ordered, "Willie Mack, you stand up against the wall until you learn to behave."
Conjugation
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to act in a specific manner
- Albanian: sillem (sq)
- American Sign Language: B@SideTrunkhigh-PalmDown-B@SideTrunkhigh-PalmDown RoundVertSidetoside-RoundVertSidetoside, C@SideTrunkhigh-PalmDown-C@SideTrunkhigh-PalmDown RoundVertSidetoside-RoundVertSidetoside
- Arabic: تَصَرَّفَ (taṣarrafa)
- Gulf Arabic: تصرف (təṣərrəf)
- Armenian: վարվել (hy) (varvel)
- Azerbaijani: davranmaq, özünü aparmaq, rəftar etmək
- Belarusian: паступа́ць impf (pastupácʹ), паступі́ць pf (pastupícʹ), паво́дзіць сябе́ impf (pavódzicʹ sjabjé), трыма́ць сябе́ impf (trymácʹ sjabjé), паво́дзіцца impf (pavódzicca), трыма́цца impf (trymácca), ве́сці сябе́ impf (vjésci sjabjé)
- Bulgarian: държа́ се (bg) impf (dǎržá se), постъ́пвам (bg) impf (postǎ́pvam), постъ́пя pf (postǎ́pja)
- Burmese: ပြုမူ (my) (pru.mu)
- Catalan: portar-se, comportar-se, captenir-se (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 為人/为人 (zh) (wéirén)
- Czech: chovat se (cs) impf
- Dutch: zich gedragen (nl)
- Esperanto: konduti
- Estonian: käituma
- Finnish: käyttäytyä (fi)
- French: se comporter (fr)
- Friulian: puartâsi
- Georgian: ქცევა (ka) (kceva), მოქცევა (mokceva)
- German: sich benehmen (de), sich verhalten (de)
- Gothic: 𐌿𐍃𐌼𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (usmitan)
- Hebrew: הִתְנַהֵג (hitnahég)
- Hindi: आचरण करना (ācraṇ karnā), बर्ताव करना (bartāv karnā), व्यवहार करना (vyavhār karnā), पेश आना (peś ānā)
- Hungarian: viselkedik (hu)
- Icelandic: haga sér, hegða sér
- Ingrian: käyttää, pittää
- Irish: iompair
- Italian: comportarsi (it), agire (it)
- Japanese: 振る舞う (ja) (ふるまう, furumau), 行動する (ja) (こうどうする, kōdō suru)
- Kazakh: өзін өзі ұстау (özın özı ūstau)
- Khmer: ប្រព្រឹត្ត (km) (prɑprɨt)
- Korean: 처신하다 (ko) (cheosinhada), 행동하다 (ko) (haengdonghada)
- Kyrgyz: өзүн алып жүрүү (özün alıp jürüü)
- Ladin: se cumpurté
- Lao: ປະພຶດ (pa phưt)
- Latin: ago (la)
- Latvian: uzvesties
- Lithuanian: elgtis (lt)
- Macedonian: се однесува impf (se odnesuva)
- Malayalam: പെരുമാറുക (ml) (perumāṟuka)
- Mongolian:
- Cyrillic: аашлах (mn) (aašlax)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: oppføre seg (no)
- Old English: ġebǣran
- Persian: رفتار کردن (raftâr kardan)
- Polish: zachowywać się (pl) impf, zachować się (pl) pf, postępować (pl) impf, postąpić (pl) pf
- Portuguese: comportar-se
- Romanian: se purta (ro), se comporta (ro)
- Russian: вести́ себя́ (ru) impf (vestí sebjá), поступа́ть (ru) impf (postupátʹ), поступи́ть (ru) pf (postupítʹ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: пона́шати се impf
- Roman: ponášati se (sh) impf
- Sicilian: cumpurtàrisi (scn), cunnucìrisi
- Slovak: správať sa impf
- Slovene: obnašati se (sl) impf, vesti se impf
- Spanish: comportarse (es)
- Swedish: uppföra sig (sv), bete sig (sv)
- Tajik: рафтор кардан (raftor kardan), муомила кардан (muomila kardan)
- Thai: ประพฤติ (th) (bprà-prʉ́t)
- Turkish: davranmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: пово́дитися impf (povódytysja), вести́ себе́ (uk) impf (vestý sebé), поступа́ти impf (postupáty), поступи́ти pf (postupýty)
- Urdu: پیش آنا (peś ānā), برتاؤ کرنا (bartāv karnā)
- Uzbek: muomala qilmoq
- Vietnamese: cư xử (vi)
|
to act in a polite or proper way
- Arabic: تَصَرَّفَ بِشَكْل (taṣarrafa bišakl), مُؤَدَّب (muʔaddab) (adjective)
- Bulgarian: държа́ се добре́ impf (dǎržá se dobré)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 做人 (zh) (zuòrèn), 舉動/举动 (zh) (jǔdòng)
- Czech: chovat se (cs) impf
- Dutch: zich gedragen (nl)
- Estonian: käituma (viisakalt, korralikult, ...)
- Finnish: käyttäytyä (kunnolla), olla kunnolla, olla ihmisiksi (fi)
- German: sich benehmen (de)
- Hungarian: viselkedik (hu)
- Italian: comportarsi bene
- Japanese: 行儀がよい (ぎょうぎがよい, gyōgi ga yoi)
- Korean: 예절바르다 (yejeolbareuda), 예절바르게 행동하다 (yejeolbareuge haengdonghada), 몸가짐이 얌전하다 (momgajimi yamjeonhada)
- Old English: ġebǣran
- Persian: مؤدب بودن (mo'addab budan)
- Portuguese: comportar-se
- Russian: вести́ себя́ пра́вильно impf (vestí sebjá právilʹno), вести́ себя́ хорошо́ impf (vestí sebjá xorošó)
- Sicilian: fari u pulitu, èssiri aducatu
- Slovak: správať sa impf
- Spanish: comportarse (es), portarse (es)
- Turkish: düzgün davranmak, terbiyeli davranmak, görgülü davranmak, terbiyeli olmak, terbiyesini takınmak, edebini takınmak (tr)
|
Translations to be checked
Further reading
- “behave”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “behave”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.