# 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

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /bɪˈheɪv/, /biːˈheɪv/
* (General American) IPA: /bɪˈheɪv/, /bi-/, /bə-/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -eɪv

### 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; to conform.
    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 […]
* (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[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.
* (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

| infinitive | (to) behave | (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 | behaved |
| subjunctive | behave | behaved |
| imperative | behave | — |
| participles | behaving | behaved |
$^†$Archaic or obsolete.

#### Derived terms

* behave oneself
* behaver
* misbehave

#### Related terms

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

#### Translations

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

#### 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.