behold
/bɪˈhoʊld/verb, interjection
behold is spelled B-E-H-O-L-D: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, behold means “To look at or see (someone or something), especially appreciatively; to descry, to look upon” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in behold?
| Letters | 6: B-E-H-O-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is behold?
Behold appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce behold?
- UK /bɪˈhəʊld/
- US /bɪˈhoʊld/
- US /biˈhoʊld/
Behold has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-behold.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with behold?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as behold from its last stressed vowel (/oʊld/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of behold
- beholds present, singular, he/she/it
- beholding participle, present
- beheld past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
- beholden participle, past, rare
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does behold mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To look at or see (someone or something), especially appreciatively; to descry, to look upon.
- 2
To contemplate (someone or something).
- 3
To look.
Lo and behold.
interjection
- 1
look, a call of attention to something
- 2
lo!
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Behold in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | regarder, voir, observer , voici, voilà |
| German | betrachten, sehen, schauen, anschauen, ansehen |
| Portuguese | ver, contemplar , eis, vede |
| Spanish | contemplar, mirar, observar , he aquí, mirad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does behold come from?
From Middle English biholden, from Old English behealdan (“to hold, possess, preserve, belong, keep, observe, look at, 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).