behaviour

[bih-heyv-yer]

noun

Chiefly British.

1. behavior.

behaviour

/ bɪˈheɪvjə /

noun

1. manner of behaving or conducting oneself

2. behaving with careful good manners

3. psychol

   1. the aggregate of all the responses made by an organism in any situation

   2. a specific response of a certain organism to a specific stimulus or group of stimuli

4. the action, reaction, or functioning of a system, under normal or specified circumstances

Spelling Note

See -or ¹.

Other Word Forms

• behavioural adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of behaviour¹

C15: from _behave ; influenced in form by Middle English havior , from Old French havoir , from Latin habēre to have

Example Sentences

On a visit to Lansbury Park, one of the most deprived areas in the constituency, he said that crime and anti-social behaviour were big issues for people in the area.

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All England players, including age-grade squads, are trained in being "active bystanders" to intervene and protect others from harmful behaviour.

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It also meant that Buckingham Palace stopped being answerable for his behaviour.

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One source said members had found it "offensive" to be told by senior figures in the party that "only someone on the prime minister's good behaviour list" should be considered for the job.

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"What we're quite good at is, when it's friends and partners, we know their truthful behaviour," he says.

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