behalf
- 1The interest, benefit, or wellbeing of a person or thing.
Advocates lobbied on behalf of patients who had been denied coverage by their insurers.
She set aside her own plans and acted entirely on behalf of her ailing mother.
Note
The word keeps a picture in its roots: Old English bī healfe, "by his or her side." To act on someone's behalf is to stand at their side and push for their good, as campaigners advocate on behalf of low-income families. It comes in two shapes, on behalf of the poor and on whose behalf, and differs from the "in someone's place" meaning, where the actor stands in for another rather than beside them.
- 2A person's role, rightful place, or authority, especially as assumed by someone acting in their stead.
The deputy chaired the meeting on behalf of the absent director.
As executor, he managed the accounts on behalf of the estate.
Note
Here the actor takes over another person's authority instead of merely serving their interest. Think of an agent who signs on my behalf, or someone who offers a dowry on her behalf. J. Sidlow Baxter's Awake, My Heart (1994) separates the phrase from its near neighbor, calling Christ the Representative who died "on my behalf" and the Substitute who died "in my very stead." In estate-planning language, on my behalf marks delegated legal power.
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Origin
From Middle English bihalve ("nearby"), from Old English bī healfe ("by [his/her] side"), formed from bī ("by") plus healfe ("side, half").