biholden

Middle English

FWOTD – 16 January 2026

Etymology 1

Inherited from Anglian Old English behaldan (West Saxon Old English behealdan), from Proto-West Germanic *bihaldan; by surface analysis, bi- +‎ holden.

Alternative forms

beholde, bihold, bi-hold, biholde, byholde
bi-halden (Early Middle English)
bihelde (Kent)
behald, be-hald, behalde (Northern)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /biˈhɔ̝ːldən/, /biˈhɔ̝ːld(ə)/
IPA^(key): /biˈhaːld/ (Northern)

Verb

biholden (third-person singular simple present biholdeth, present participle biholdynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative biheld, past participle biholden)

To watch or stare at; to visually monitor.
- c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “Paſſus undecım᷒”, in [Piers Plowman, A Treatise on Sin] (W, B-text), London, published c. 1400, →OCLC, folio 60, recto; republished as Thorlac Turville-Petre, Hoyt N. Duggan, editors, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.15.17 (The Piers Plowman Electronic Archive; 2), SEENET, 2014, →ISBN:
  And in to þe lond of longynge. allone she me brouȝte / And in a Miro᷑ þat hıȝte middelerþe. she made me to bıholde / Sone she seıde to me. here myȝtow se wondres […]
  And into the land of longing, she brought me by myself, / then she got me to stare at a mirror called Middle-earth. / Shortly she said to me, "Here you can see marvels […] "
To behold or look at; to visually notice.
To consider or pay attention to:
1. To keep an eye on; to watch or monitor (mentally)
2. To comprehend; to know the meaning of.
3. (rare) To adhere or hold (a belief)
(uncommon) To pertain to; to be relevant.
(rare) To face (in a direction)
(rare, Early Middle English) To mean; to convey a sense.

Conjugation

Conjugation of *biholden* (strong class 7)
	present tense	past tense
infinitive	(to) biholden, biholde

1st-person singular	biholde	biheld
2nd-person singular	biholdest	bihelde¹
3rd-person singular	biholdeth	biheld
subjunctive singular	biholde	bihelde²
imperative singular	biholde	—

plural³	biholden, biholde	bihelden, bihelde
imperative plural	biholdeth, biholde	—

participles	biholdynge, biholdende	biholden, biholde

¹ Later replaced by the 1st-/3rd-person singular or biheldest.
² Later replaced by the indicative.
³ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms

Descendants

English: behold
Middle Scots: behald
- Scots: behaud

References

“bihōlden, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

The past participle of Etymology 1, though since that verb does not mean "to bind, obligate", the "beholden" sense may be a new formation from bi- +‎ holden (“held”).