befit

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider.

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bider.

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

Old English be-

Middle English bi-

English be-

English fit

English befit

From be- + fit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈfɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Verb

befit (third-person singular simple present befits, present participle befitting, simple past and past participle befitted or befit)

1. to be fit for

   His conduct was not befitting an officer of his station.

   • 2021 June 14, Scott Mullen, “Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Clarke's side roared back with courage and belief befitting a team who had held their nerve in two shootouts to get here.

   • 1965, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, The Lockman Foundation:

     Fine or arrogant speech does not befit [an empty-headed] fool—much less do lying lips befit a prince

Synonyms

• behoove, behove

Derived terms

• unbefit

Translations

be fit for

• Bulgarian: подхождам (bg) (podhoždam), отивам (на) (bg) (otivam (na)), подоба́вам (bg) (podobávam)
• Czech: slušet se impf, patřit se (cs) impf, hodit se impf
• Dutch: behoren (nl)
• French: convenir à, être approprié pour
• Galician: acaer
• German: anstehen (de), entsprechen (de), zukommen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (gatiman)
• Italian: adattarsi (it)
• Māori: haratau, huatau, pai (mi), arotau
• Middle English: bisemen
• Persian: درخور (fa)
• Russian: подобать (ru) impf (podobatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: freagair do/ri/air