Meaning of behold in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /bəˈhoʊld/

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  1. Verb

    behold

    Etymology

    Old English bihaldan, from bi- ‘thoroughly’ + haldan ‘to hold’. Parallel Germanic words have the sense ‘maintain, retain’; the notion of ‘looking’ is found only in English

    Definitions

    1. see with attention

    Examples

    • « behold Christ! »

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « Let a man get up and say, Behold, this is the truth, and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say. »
    Virginia Woolf
  • « You wrestle one night, get up the next morning and fly out to the next city. You try to work out, you try to get some food into you and, lo and behold, you have to go work again. You are living out of a suitcase. »
    Bill Goldberg
  • « An Edwardian lady in full dress was a wonder to behold, and her preparations for viewing were awesome. »
    William Manchester
  • « Behold, my friends, the spring is come the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! »
    Sitting Bull
  • « Back in the days when the market was a kind of secular god and all the world thrilled to behold the amazing powers of private capital, the idea of privatizing highways and airports and other bits of our transportation infrastructure made a certain kind of sense. »
    Thomas Frank

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