behabban

Old English

Etymology

    From Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan. Equivalent to be- +‎ habban.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /beˈxɑb.bɑn/, [beˈhɑb.bɑn]

    Verb

    behabban

    1. (transitive) to surround or embrace something
      • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:
        Ðīne fȳnd behabbaþ ðē.
        Your enemies surround you.
    2. (transitive) to hold or contain somebody or something
      • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:
        Māran endebyrdnysse þonne ðis godspel behæfð.
        More circumstances than this gospel contains.
    3. (intransitive) to understand something (+ dative or + on)
    4. (transitive) to withhold or hold something back
      • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:
        Behæfð God his mildheortnesse.
        God withholds his mercy.
    5. (transitive) to restrain or detain somebody
      • 1921, Joseph Bosworth, Thomas Northcote Toller, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online:
        behæfdon hine.
        They detained him.

    Conjugation

    Derived terms

    • behæfednes f (detention, care)

    References