English
behalf
Behalf comes from Middle English bihalve, from Old English bī healfe ‘by (one’s) side’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bī healfe1‘by (one’s) side’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bihalve1‘nearby’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994behalf1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English behalf
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake: “He was not only my Representative who died on…”.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bī healfeWiktionary, English behalf‘by (one’s) side’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bihalveWiktionary, English behalf‘nearby’
- Englishearliest quotation 1994behalfWiktionary, English behalf. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, J. Sidlow Baxter, Awake: “He was not only my Representative who died on…”
A compound of bī ‘by’ + healfe ‘side, half’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep- ‘to grab, snatch, get’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁éps
Proto-Indo-European *h₁épi ‘on, at’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi
Proto-Germanic *bi ‘by, at’
Proto-West Germanic *bī ‘near, by, around, about’
Old English bī ‘by’
Old English healfe ‘side, half’
Explore everything descended from bī healfe →
No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.
Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app
Today it means
noun The interest, benefit, or wellbeing of someone or something.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “behalf”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Old English bī healfe / behalf