Meanings
present singular third person beholds · participle present beholding · past beheld · participle past beheld · participle past rare beholden · first person past singular beheld · archaic present second person singular beholdest · past second person singular beheld · archaic past second person singular beheldst · present singular third person beholds · archaic present singular third person beholdeth · past singular third person beheld · past plural beheld · past subjunctive beheld · participle present beholding · participle past beheld
- transitiveTo look at or see (someone or something), especially appreciatively; to descry, to look upon.
Beg not for mercy. Behold, blackened sky. Against mine chaos, even gods will die!
2023 December 18, “Galactus VS Unicron (Marvel Comics VS Transformers)” (16:08 from the start), in DEATH BATTLE!, season 10, episode 16, spoken by Unicron (Brent Mukai)4 more examples
There's not the ſmalleſt orbe [in the sky] vvhich thou beholdſt, / But in his motion like an Angell ſings, / Still quiring to the young eide Cherubins; / Such harmony is in immortall ſoules, / But vvhilſt this muddy veſture of decay [i.e., the human body] / Doth groſſely cloſe in it, vve cannot heare it.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i][…] Alaeddin ate and drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered spirits he cried, "Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and designed to take my life. Know that I beheld Death with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou didst certify to be my uncle; […]
1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, “Night 532”, in A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLCThe humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLCI was working in the lab late one night When my eyes beheld an eerie sight For my monster, from his slab, began to rise And suddenly, to my surprise He did the Mash He did the Monster Mash.
1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-KickersSynonyms: clock, look, geek, kool, regard, squizz, take a butcher's, take a dekko
- transitiveTo contemplate (someone or something).
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo look at or see (someone or something), especially appreciatively; to descry, to look upon.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*bihaldan“to hold with, keep”
- Old Englishbehealdan“to hold, possess, preserve, belong, keep, observe, look at, take care, beware, be cautious, restrain, act, behave”
- Middle Englishbiholden
- Englishbehold
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek σκοπέω, ἰδού
- σκοπέω (skopéō)to see, to look at
- ἰδού (idoú)Translations
Arabic هُوَذَا, هَا
- هُوَذَا (huwaḏā)to see, to look at
- هَا (hā)Translations
Bulgarian гледам, виждам
- гледам (gledam)to see, to look at
- виждам (viždam)to see, to look at
Catalan mirar, vigilar
- mirarto see, to look at
- vigilarto see, to look at
Chinese Mandarin 看
- 看 (kàn)to see, to look at
Danish skue, betragte
- skueto see, to look at
- betragteto see, to look at
Dutch aanschouwen, ziehier
- aanschouwento see, to look at
- ziehierTranslations
- ziedaarTranslations
Esperanto rigardi, jen
- rigardito see, to look at
- jenTranslations
Finnish katsoa, katso
- katsoato see, to look at
- katsoTranslations
French regarder, voir
- regarderto see, to look at
- voirto see, to look at
- observerto see, to look at
- voiciTranslations
- voilàTranslations
German betrachten, sehen
- betrachtento see, to look at
- sehento see, to look at
- schauento see, to look at
- anschauento see, to look at
- ansehento see, to look at
Hebrew הִנֵּה, הֲרֵי
- הִנֵּה (hiné)to see, to look at
- הֲרֵי (haréi)to see, to look at
- הִנֵּהTranslations
Hungarian meglát, észrevesz
- meglátto see, to look at
- észreveszto see, to look at
- megpillantto see, to look at
Icelandic sjá
- sjáto see, to look at
Indonesian lihat, tatap
- lihatto see, to look at
- tatapto see, to look at
Italian guardare, ecco
- guardareto see, to look at
- eccoTranslations
Japanese 見る, 認める
- 見る (miru)to see, to look at
- 認める (mitomeru)to see, to look at
- 見よ (miyo)Translations
- ほら (hora)Translations
Latin aspicio, tueor
- aspicioto see, to look at
- tueorto see, to look at
- ecceTranslations
Persian نگریستن
- نگریستن (negaristan)to see, to look at
Polish ujrzeć
- ujrzećto see, to look at
Portuguese ver, contemplar
- verto see, to look at
- contemplarto see, to look at
- eisTranslations
- vedeTranslations
Romanian vedea, iată
- vedeato see, to look at
- iatăTranslations
Russian смотре́ть, гляде́ть
- смотре́ть (smotrétʹ)to see, to look at
- гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)to see, to look at
- увидеть (uvidetʹ)to see, to look at
- взглянуть (vzgljanutʹ)to see, to look at
- вот (vot)Translations
Scottish Gaelic amhairc, seall
- amhaircto see, to look at
- seallto see, to look at
- seallTranslations
Spanish contemplar, mirar
- contemplarto see, to look at
- mirarto see, to look at
- observarto see, to look at
- he aquíTranslations
- miradTranslations
Swedish skåda, betrakta
- skådato see, to look at
- betraktato see, to look at
- åskådato see, to look at
Turkish bakmak
- bakmakto see, to look at
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with behold
Cite this entry
behold. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behold
“behold.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behold. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “behold,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/behold.
Source: behold on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.