# behaviour

Pronunciation: UK say "bi-HAY-vyuh" /bɪˈheɪ.vjə(ɹ)/; US say "bi-HAY-vyer" /bɪˈheɪ.vjɚ/

## Noun

1. The way a person, animal or other living thing acts or responds, especially as observed or studied; also, any one action of this kind.
   - Simple: The way a person or animal acts, or one particular thing they do, especially when it is watched or studied.
   - _The keepers noticed a change in the elephant's behaviour after the new calf arrived._
   - _His family grew worried about his behaviour, which had become quiet and withdrawn over the winter._
2. The way people conduct themselves, measured against the standards their society considers acceptable.
   - Simple: The way a person acts, judged by what people think is right or polite.
   - _The head teacher wrote to parents about pupils' behaviour on the school bus._
   - _Police have promised to crack down on antisocial behaviour in the town centre._
3. The way a machine, system, substance or other non-living thing acts or reacts, especially under particular conditions.
   - Simple: The way a machine, system or material works or changes, especially in certain conditions.
   - _Engineers are investigating the unusual behaviour of the train's braking system in wet weather._
   - _The students recorded the behaviour of the gas as the pressure in the container slowly rose._
4. The state of behaving as well or as politely as one can, usually because others are watching, as in on one's best behaviour.
   - Simple: Acting as well and as politely as you can, usually because people are watching you.
   - _The new manager was on her best behaviour throughout her first week, smiling at everyone._
   - _Remember, you're on your best behaviour at Gran's, so no arguing with your sister._

## Origin

Middle English had behavoure and behaver, built on the verb behaven (today's behave). The ending seems to have been modelled on havour, a garbled form of Old French aveir or avoir (“a having”), which goes back in the end to Latin habēre. The word took the place of Old English ġebǣru.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/behaviour (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).