behold

English

Etymology

From Middle English beholden, from Old English behealdan (“to hold, have, occupy, possess, guard, preserve, contain, belong, keep, observe, consider, behold, look at, gaze on, see, signify, avail, effect, take care, beware, be cautious, restrain, act, behave”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihaldan (“to hold with, keep”), equivalent to be- +‎ hold. Cognate with Saterland Frisian behoolde (“to keep”), Dutch behouden (“to keep, restrain, preserve”), German behalten (“to keep, restrain, remember”), Danish and Norwegian beholde (“to keep”) and Swedish behålla (“to keep”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhəʊld/
(General American) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhoʊld/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -əʊld, -oʊld

Verb

behold (third-person singular simple present beholds, present participle beholding, simple past beheld, past participle beheld or (rare) beholden)

(transitive)
1. To look at or see (someone or something), especially appreciatively; to descry, to look upon.
  Synonyms: see Thesaurus:look
  - c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. (First Quarto), : J Roberts , published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
    There's not the ſmalleſt orbe [in the sky] vvhich thou beholdſt, / But in his motion like an Angell ſings, / Still quiring to the young eide Cherubins; / Such harmony is in immortall ſoules, / But vvhilſt this muddy veſture of decay [i.e., the human body] / Doth groſſely cloſe in it, vve cannot heare it.
  - 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Night 532”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night , Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), : Burton Club , →OCLC:
    […] Alaeddin ate and drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered spirits he cried, "Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and designed to take my life. Know that I beheld Death with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou didst certify to be my uncle; […]
  - 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
    The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
  - 1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:
    I was working in the lab late one night
    When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
    For my monster, from his slab, began to rise
    And suddenly, to my surprise
    He did the Mash
    He did the Monster Mash.
2. To contemplate (someone or something).
(intransitive) To look.

Usage notes

Rarely used in informal speech. The past participle beholden now has a meaning detached from the other forms of the word.

Conjugation

Conjugation of behold

infinitive	(to) behold
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	behold	beheld
2nd-person singular	behold, beholdest^†	beheld, beheldst^†
3rd-person singular	beholds, beholdeth^†	beheld
plural	behold	beheld

subjunctive	behold	beheld

imperative	behold	—

participles	beholding	beheld, beholden^*