behave

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

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈheɪv/, /bəˈheɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪv

Verb

behave (third-person singular simple present behaves, present participle behaving, simple past and past participle behaved)

1. (reflexive) To conduct (oneself) well, or in a given way.

   You need to behave yourself, young lady.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Maccabees 2:21:

     And the manifest signs that came from heaven unto those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Judaism […]

2. (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.

3. (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 88:

     He did behave his anger ere 'twas spent.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book 2, canto 3, verse 40:

     But who his limbs with labours, and his mind / Behaues with cares, cannot so easie mis.

4. (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

Conjugation of behave

infinitive	(to) behave
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	behave	behaved
2nd-person singular	behave, behavest†	behaved, behavedst†
3rd-person singular	behaves, behaveth†	behaved
plural	behave
subjunctive	behave	behaved
imperative	behave	—
participles	behaving	behaved

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• behave oneself

Related terms

• behavior, behaviour
• behavioral, behavioural
• behaviorist, behaviourist
• behaviorism, behaviourism

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)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} konduti
• French: ^{(please verify)} se conduire (fr), ^{(please verify)} se comporter (fr), ^{(please verify)} se tenir (fr)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} haga sér
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} comportarsi (it)
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} sē gerō
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} elgtis (lt)

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.