behoof
(bɪˈhuːf)
Forms: (1–2 bi-, behóf,) 3–5 (dat.) bihoue, 4–5 bihove, 4–6 behoue, 4–7 behove, 6–7 behoove, 6–8 behoofe, 6– behoof. (Also 4–5 bihufe, 4–6 byhove, behuf, 5 byhoff, beofe, 5–6 behofe, -houfe, 6 Sc. behowe, -hufe, -huif, 7 behoolfe.)
[OE. *bihóf ‘utility,’ occurring in the deriv. bihóf-l{iacu}c useful, necessary; = OFris. bihof, Du. behoef, MHG. bihuof, mod.G. behuf, of same meaning; f. *bihóf, pa. tense of Orig. Teut. *bihafjan, MHG. beheben ‘to take, hold, receive,’ f. bi-, be- + hafjan, OE. hębban, pa. tense hóf, ‘to heave, raise,’ orig. ‘to take up, take,’ cogn. w. L. cap(i)ĕre. The original sense seems to have been either, ‘taking in, reception, acquisition,’ whence ‘gain, advantage,’ or ‘taking away, taking to oneself, taking the use of,’ whence ‘use.’ See also the synonyms biheve, bihofthe.]
1. Use, benefit, advantage. Chiefly in to, for, on, (formerly into, till) (the) behoof of. (In, on behoof of, are due to confusion with behalf.) pl. rare.
| c 1205 Lay. 1050 Ȝe ȝeorneð.. mine leoue dohter to swa laðe mannes bihoue [1250 bihofe]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 70 He ordaynd, for mans byhufe, Heven and herth. 1375 Barbour Bruce xv. 517 [Douglas] held no thing till his behuf. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 15 Upon the hond to were a sho..Accordeth nought to the behove Of resonable mannes use. 1482 Marg. Paston in Lett. 861 III. 286, I bequeth an C marc..to the use and byhoff of the seid William Paston. 1483 Caxton Cato E ij b, Alle thynges shal come to your behoufe in habundaunce. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, xx, Londes..which be..to his use or behove had. c 1530 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 93 For whose vse and behoofe thei kepe it. 1532 G. Hervet Xenophon's Househ. (1768) 28 Delyuered it vnto you to kepe for bothe our behoues. 1549 Olde Erasm. Par. 1 Tim. iii. 1 [A bishop is] one that careth for y⊇ commodities and behoufes of others. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 7 In behove of the publique weal. 1611 Bible Pref. 5 For the behoofe and edifying of the vnlearned. 1625 Milton Death Fair Inf. vii, Which careful Jove in nature's true behoof Took up. 1667 ― P.L. ii. 982 No mean recompence it brings To your behoof. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 365 To the use and behoof of A and his heirs. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, III. vii. 35 Taking towns for his own behoof. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) I. 31 Fines are imposed for the behoof of the count. 1857 S. Winkworth Tauler's Life & Serm. 386 They devote all their prayers..to their own behoof. [1868 F. Paget Lucretia 207 The parlour had been turned into a bedroom on my behoof.] |
† 2. ? What it behoves one to do; obligation, duty. Obs. rare.
| 1594 Southwell M. Magd. Fun. Teares 161 It considereth behoofe more than benefit, and what in duty it should, not what indeed it can. |
† 3. ? A gift for behoof of the recipient, a ‘benefit’ or benefaction, a gratuity, a ‘tip.’ Obs. rare.
| 1596 Spenser State Irel. 529 No offices should be sold for money..nor no behoves taken for captaincies of counties. |