behest

English

WOTD – 9 May 2011

Etymology

From Middle English biheste, from Old English behǣs (“vow, promise”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihaisi, from *bi- (“be-”) +‎ *haisi (“command”), from Proto-Germanic *haisiz, 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

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /biˈhɛst/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛst

Noun

behest (plural behests)

A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of. [from 12th c.]
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene i:
  Moſt great and puiſant Monarke of the earth,
  Your Baſſoe wil accompliſh your beheſt: […]
- 1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], OCLC 1001655651:
  to do his master's high behest
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 302:
  I have spells for the north, I have charms for the west, / And the south and the east must obey my behest.
- 1951, Geoffrey Chaucer; Nevill Coghill, transl., The Canterbury Tales: Translated into Modern English (Penguin Classics), Penguin Books, published 1977, page 278:
  Paul did not dare pronounce, let matters rest, / His master having given him no behest.
- 1961 May, “Talking of Trains: Stourton and Stafford approved”, in Trains Illustrated, page 260:
  The London Midland Region has announced receipt of authority from the Ministry of Transport to resume the reconstruction of Stafford station and layout, interrupted at the Minister's behest; contracts have now been placed for the erection of the new station buildings and the yardmaster's office.
- 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.
(obsolete) A vow; a promise.
- c. 1440, Markaryte Paston, letter to John Paston
  The time is come that I should send it her, if I keep the behest that I have made.

Translations

command, bidding

Bulgarian: нареждане (bg) (nareždane), заповед (bg) (zapoved)
Dutch: bevel (nl), opdracht (nl),
Finnish: käsky (fi), määräys (fi)
French: demande (fr) f
German: Geheiß (de) n, Befehl (de) f
Greek:
Ancient: κέλευσμα n (kéleusma)
Hungarian: utasítás (hu)
Italian: comando (it) m, ordine (it) m
Malay: arahan (ms)
Middle English: heste
Portuguese: comando (pt) m, ordem (pt) f
Russian: кома́нда (ru) f (kománda), распоряже́ние (ru) n (rasporjažénije), директи́ва (ru) f (direktíva), указа́ние (ru) n (ukazánije)
Serbo-Croatian: zapovjed, naredba (sh), komanda (sh), direktiva (sh)
Slovene: ukaz (sl) m
Spanish: solicitud (es) f, orden (es) f
Swedish: order (sv), befallning (sv)

vow — see vow

promise — see promise

Verb

behest (third-person singular simple present behests, present participle behesting, simple past and past participle behested)

(obsolete) To promise; vow.

Anagrams

Bethes, Thebes, Thêbes, bethes, thebes