The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
- Proto-Germanic*bi
- Proto-Germanic*bi-
- Proto-West Germanic*bi-
- Proto-Indo-European*kap-
- Proto-Germanic*habjaną
- Proto-West Germanic*habbjan
- Proto-West Germanic*bihabbjan
- Old Englishbehabban
- Middle Englishbehaven
- English todaybehave
From Middle English behaven, bihabben (“to restrain, behave”), from Old English behabban (“to surround, embrace, hold, contain, hold back, withhold, restrain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan, equivalent to be- + have. Cognate with Middle Low German behebben, behāven (“to receive, acquire, reach, keep”), Low German behebben (“to act, behave”), German behaben (“to behave”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.