Behight
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A vow; a promise. obsolete
- 1 To vow, promise (someone). obsolete, transitive
"Thenne I behote yow sayd Balyn parte of his blood to hele youre sone with alle."
- 2 To be designated. Northern-England, dialectal
"Wheea behight thee? = What is your name/to whom do you belong?"
- 3 To give in trust; to commit; to entrust. obsolete, transitive
"The keys are to thy hand behight."
- 4 To mean, or intend. obsolete
"More than heart behighteth."
- 5 To consider or esteem to be; to declare to be. obsolete
"But nathelesse whilst all the lookers on / Him dead behight, as he to all appeard, / All vnawares he started vp anon,"
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- 6 To call; to name; to address. obsolete
"Whom […] he knew and thus behight."
- 7 To command; to order. obsolete
"And his well proued weapons to him hent; / So taking courteous conge he behight, / Those gates to be vnbar'd, and forth he went."
Example
More examples"Thenne I behote yow sayd Balyn parte of his blood to hele youre sone with alle."
Etymology
From Middle English beheten, bihaten, behoten (preterite behighte), from Old English behātan (“to promise, vow, pledge oneself, threaten”) (preterite behēhte), corresponding to be- + hight. Cognate with Scots beheit, behecht (“to promise, vow”), Middle High German beheizen (“to promise”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.