Behest
/bɪˈhɛst/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of and at one's behest.
"Moſt great and puiſant Monarke of the earth, Your Baſſoe wil accompliſh your beheſt: […]"
- 2 an authoritative command or request wordnet
- 3 A vow; a promise. obsolete
"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."
Verb
- 1 To promise; vow. obsolete
Example
More examples"He testified that the wire-tapping was carried out at the behest of his superiors."
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.