behold

The story

1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bihaldan“to hold with, keep”
2. Old English · inherited frombehealdan“to hold, possess, preserve, belong, keep, observe, look at, take care, beware, be cautious, restrain, act, behave”
3. Middle English · inherited frombiholden
4. English todaybehold

From Middle English biholden, from Old English behealdan (“to hold, possess, preserve, belong, keep, observe, look at, take care, beware, be cautious, restrain, act, behave”), from Proto-West Germanic *bihaldan (“to hold with, keep”), equivalent to be- + hold. Cognate with Saterland Frisian behoolde (“to keep”), Dutch behouden (“to keep, restrain, preserve”), German behalten (“to keep, restrain, remember”), Danish and Norwegian beholde (“to keep”) and Swedish behålla (“to keep”).

Words from the same roots