behest
English
WOTD – 9 May 2011
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English behǣs (“vow, promise”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“be-”), *haisiz (“command”), from *haitaną (“to command”). Final -t by analogy with other similar words in -t. Related to Old English behātan (“to command, promise”), Middle Low German beheit, behēt (“a promise”). Compare also hest (“command”), hight.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /bɪˈhɛst/
- (General American) IPA(key): /biˈhɛst/
Noun
behest (plural behests)
- A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of. [from 12th c.]
- Sir Walter Scott
- to do his master's high behest
- 1977, translation of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Penguin Classics, p. 278:
- Paul did not dare pronounce, let matters rest, / His master having given him no behest.
- 2007, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day:
- And young Mr. Fleetwood Vibe was here at the behest of his father, Wall Street eminence Scarsdale Vibe, who was effectively bankrolling the Expedition.
- 2009, “What a waste”, The Economist, 15 Oct 2009:
- the House of Representatives will try to water down even this feeble effort at the behest of the unions whose members enjoy some of the most lavish policies.
- 2011, Owen Gibson, The Guardian, 24 Mar 2011:
- The Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is to meet with the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, at the behest of the Premier League in a bid to resolve their long-running feud.
- Sir Walter Scott
- (obsolete) A vow; a promise.
- Paston
- The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.
- Paston
Translations
command, bidding
|
vow — see vow
promise — see promise
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