Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Behold

Be-hold′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Beheld
(
p. p.
formerly
Beholden
, now used only as a
p. a.
);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Beholding
.]
[OE.
bihalden
,
biholden
, AS.
behealdan
to hold, have in sight; pref.
be-
+
healdan
to hold, keep; akin to G.
behalten
to hold, keep. See
Hold
.]
To have in sight; to see clearly; to look at; to regard with the eyes.
When he
beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived.
Num. xxi. 9.
Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
John. i. 29.
Syn. – To scan; gaze; regard; descry; view; discern.

Be-hold′

,
Verb.
I.
To direct the eyes to, or fix them upon, an object; to look; to see.
And I
beheld
, and, lo, in the midst of the throne, . . . a lamb as it had been slain.
Rev. v. 6.

Webster 1828 Edition

Behold

BEHO'LD

,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. beheld' [L.observo, from servo, to keep.]
1.
To fix the eyes upon; to see with attention; to observe with care.
Behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1.
2.
In a less intensive sense, to look upon; to see.
When he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. Num. 21.

BEHO'LD

,
Verb.
I.
To look; to direct the eyes to an object.
And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, a lamb,as it had been slain. Rev.5.
1.
To fix the attention upon an object; to attend; to direct or fix the mind.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Rev.3.word is much used in this manner for exciting attention, or admiration. It is in the imperative mode, expressing command, or exhortation; and by no means a mere exclamation.

Definition 2024

behold

behold

English

Verb

behold ‎(third-person singular simple present beholds, present participle beholding, simple past beheld, past participle beheld or (rare) beholden)

  1. (transitive) To see, or to look at.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.

Usage notes

Rarely used in informal speech. The past participle beholden now has a meaning detached from the other forms of the word.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  • behold in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • behold in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /behɔl/, [b̥eˈhʌlˀ]

Etymology 1

From Middle Low German beholt, behalt.

Noun

behold

  1. (archaic) haven, refuge
    i behold – safe, intact, left (remaining)
    i god behold – safe, safely, safe and sound, safe and well
Derived terms
  • i behold
  • i god behold

Etymology 2

See beholde ‎(“to keep”)

Verb

behold

  1. imperative of beholde

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

behold

  1. imperative of beholde

Etymology

From Middle English beholden, from Old English behealdan ‎(“to hold, have, occupy, possess, guard, preserve, contain, belong, keep, observe, consider, behold, look at, gaze on, see, signify, avail, effect, take care, beware, be cautious, restrain, act, behave”), from Proto-Germanic *bihaldaną ‎(“to hold with, keep”), equivalent to be- +‎ hold. Cognate with Dutch behouden ‎(“to keep, restrain, preserve”), German behalten ‎(“to keep, restrain, remember”), Danish and Norwegian beholde ‎(“to keep”) and Swedish behålla ‎(“to keep”).

Pronunciation

Similar Results