behoove

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kap-“to grab, seize”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bihōfōną“to benefit, behove, need”
3. Old English · inherited frombehōfian“to need; to be necessary”
4. Middle English · inherited frombehoven
5. English todaybehoove

From Middle English behoven, bihoven (“to be necessary, requisite; to be compelled or required (to do something)”), from Old English behōfian (“to need; to be necessary”), from Proto-Germanic *bihōfōną (“to benefit, behove, need”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grab, seize”). The word is cognate with Old Frisian bihōvia (“to need”), Middle Low German behôven (“to need”) and Old Saxon *bihōvōn, Dutch behoeven (“to need”), obsolete German behufen (cf. Behuf), Danish behøve (“to need”), Norwegian behøve (“to need”), Swedish behöva (“to have use for, to need”).

Words from the same roots