behove
/bɪˈhəʊv/
"behove" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“behove” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To befit, to suit.
Corpus desk
Index EN-behove · behove · English
behove · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | behove |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈhəʊv/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “behove” in English
Rare enough to double-check
behove is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /bɪˈhəʊv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for behove, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English behoven, bihoven (“to be necessary, requisite; to be compelled or required (to do something)”), from Old English behōfian (“to need; to be necessary”), from Proto-Germanic *bihōfōną (“to benefit, behove, need”), ultimately from Proto-Ind… The correct English form is behove, spelled B-E-H-O-V-E.
Definition
- 1To befit, to suit.
- 2To be necessary for (someone).
- 3To be in the best interest of; to benefit.
- 4To be needful, meet or becoming.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how behove appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[W]here therefore public diversions are tolerated, it behoves persons of distinction, with their power and example, to preside over them in such a manner as to check any thing that tends to the corruption of manners, or which is too mean or trivial for the entertainment of reasonable creatures.
It behoves every man, who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others; it behoves him too, in his own case, to give no example of concession, betraying the common right of independent opinion, by answering questions of faith, which laws have left between God and himself.
Etymology
From Middle English behoven, bihoven (“to be necessary, requisite; to be compelled or required (to do something)”), from Old English behōfian (“to need; to be necessary”), from Proto-Germanic *bihōfōną (“to benefit, behove, need”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grab, seize”). The word is cognate with Old Frisian bihōvia (“to need”), Middle Low German behôven (“to need”) and Old Saxon *bihōvōn, Dutch behoeven (“to need”), obsolete German behufen (cf. Behuf), Danish behøve (“to need”), Norwegian behøve (“to need”), Swedish behöva (“to have use for, to need”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.