behave

[bih-heyv] /bɪˈheɪv/
verb (used without object), behaved, behaving.
1.
to act in a particular way; conduct or comport oneself or itself:
The ship behaves well.
2.
to act properly:
Did the child behave?
3.
to act or react under given circumstances:
This plastic behaves strangely under extreme heat or cold.
verb (used with object), behaved, behaving.
4.
to conduct or comport (oneself) in a proper manner:
Sit quietly and behave yourself.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English behaven (reflexive). See be-, have
Related forms
unbehaving, adjective
well-behaved, adjective
Synonyms
1. perform, acquit oneself, deport oneself.
British Dictionary definitions for well-behaved

well-behaved

adjective (well behaved when postpositive)
1.
conducting oneself in a satisfactory manner

behave

/bɪˈheɪv/
verb
1.
(intransitive) to act or function in a specified or usual way
2.
to conduct (oneself) in a specified way: he behaved badly towards her
3.
to conduct (oneself) properly or as desired: the child behaved himself all day
Word Origin
C15: see be-, have
Word Origin and History for well-behaved
adj.

1590s, from well (adv.) + past participle of behave.

behave

v.

early 15c., from be- intensive prefix + have in sense of "to have or bear (oneself) in a particular way, comport" (cf. German sich behaben, French se porter). Cognate Old English compound behabban meant "to contain," and alternatively the modern sense of behave might have evolved from behabban via a notion of "self-restraint." Related: Behaved; behaving.

well-behaved in Technology


1. [primarily MS-DOS] Said of software conforming to system interface guidelines and standards. Well-behaved software uses the operating system to do chores such as keyboard input, allocating memory and drawing graphics. Oppose ill-behaved.
2. Software that does its job quietly and without counterintuitive effects. Especially said of software having an interface spec sufficiently simple and well-defined that it can be used as a tool by other software. See cat.
[Jargon File]