Behalf

//bɪˈhæf// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The interest, benefit, or wellbeing of someone or something.

    "The one exception to this was William Hilhouse, who was widely regarded as the colonist with the greatest experience of the interior and its native inhabitants, on whose behalf he endlessly campaigned."

  2. 2
    as the agent of or on someone's part (usually expressed as ‘on behalf of’ rather than ‘in behalf of’) wordnet
  3. 3
    One's role or rightful place; stead or authority.

    "He was not only my Representative who died on my behalf; He was my Substitute who died in my very stead."

  4. 4
    for someone's benefit (usually expressed as ‘in behalf’ rather than ‘on behalf’ and usually with a possessive) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
advantageavailbehoofbenefitbenisonblessing

Example

More examples

"On behalf of my classmates, let me say a few words of thanks to you."

Etymology

From Middle English bihalve (“nearby”), from Old English bī healfe (“by [his/her] side”), from bī (“by”) + healfe (“side, half”), equivalent to be- + half.

Related phrases

in behalf ofon behalf of

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.