WHERE DOES BEHAVE COME FROM? WHAT IS "HAVE" AS IN BEHAVE?

One unusual thing among many about "behave" is that although it does incorporate our familiar word "have," the long "a" pronunciation in the "have" of "behave" is a relic of the 15th century, when "behave" first appeared.

The word "have" has been around since the dawn of English, long enough to acquire dozens of finely-tuned meanings which rest precariously on the basically vague original meaning of "have." That root meaning of "have," shared with its relatives in other Germanic languages, is "to possess, keep or hold."

There are many sub-senses of "have," but for our purposes the most important appeared around A.D. 971, meaning "to possess as a duty," the same sense we use when we say "I have to do my work." Associated with this was "have" in the active sense of "to carry on or act in a certain manner," and it is this sense of "have" that first appeared in the 15th century in the form "behave."

Now we come to the secret about "behave." That's not the familiar verb "be" as in "to be" at the beginning, so no one is telling you to "be" anything. It's an obsolete intensifier that meant "very," as also found in the word "besmirch" (to "smirch," or make dirty, very badly).

So "to behave" means "to act, very strictly and with self-discipline, in a certain manner," as a soldier might be said to "behave as an officer." The more child-specific sense of "behave" as shorthand meaning "to behave properly" that you hear from adults developed only in the 19th century.

I realize this kind of a cheat answer but the best way to find the origins of a word is to find them in an etymological dictionary. Here's one online, the link goes to behave: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=behave&searchmode=none

The word initiated between 1400 and 1450 AD and of course is formed from "be" (as an intensive prefix) and "have" as a verb. It's most earlist meaning was the "possess or to have oneself" or in other words "to conduct oneself in a particular way". Comes from Old English "behabban" meaning "to contain" and ending the 15th century added the word "behavior" from havour, altered (by influence of have) from aver, from Old French "aveir" meaning "to have."

Interesting word, isn't it?