behoove

English

Alternative forms

• behove (UK)

Etymology

Middle English behoven, from Old English behōfian "to need", from Old English behōf+ian. Cognate with Swedish: behöva.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɨˈhuːv/

Verb

behoove (third-person singular simple present behooves, present participle behooving, simple past and past participle behooved)

1. (US) To suit; to befit
   • 2002, Senator Douglas Roche, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Parliament of Canada:

     I think it ill behooves the Government of Canada[...] to pretend that there are not these distinctions in how each of us approaches questions of security.

2. (US) To be necessary
3. (US) To be in one's best interest; to benefit
   • 1803, Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Benjamin Rush:

     It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others.

   • 2007, Gary D. Schmidt, The Wednesday Wars, page 208

     "It behooves us to be prepared. We will begin a series of atomic bomb drills ..." / "Becomes necessary, Mr. Hupfer," said Mrs. Baker, "as in 'It behooves us to raise our hands before we ask a question."

Related terms

• behoof
• behovely

Translations

To suit; to befit

• Bulgarian: подобава (bg) (podobava)
• Dutch: betamen (nl)
• German: (obsolete) obliegen (de), (obsolete) sich geziemen (de), schicken (de), sich schicken (de), sich ziemen (de)

• Norwegian: (reflexive) passe (no)
• Russian: следовать (ru) (sledovatʹ), надлежать (ru) (nadležatʹ), подобать (ru) (podobatʹ), приличествовать (ru) (priličestvovatʹ)
• Swedish: (reflexive) passa (sv), bekomma (sv)
• Turkish: düşmek (tr), yaraşmak (tr)

To be necessary

• Norwegian: være nødvendig (no)

• Russian: следовать, надлежать
• Swedish: vara (sv) nödvändig (sv), krävas (sv) (passive infinitive of kräva)