behavior
- 01 A2 Elementary
the way you act, especially toward other people or in public.
the manner in which a person conducts themselves, particularly in relation to social norms or ethics.
Simple“The teacher praised the boy for his excellent behavior during the school trip.”
In context“The company has a strict code of conduct to ensure professional behavior among all employees during client interactions.”
UsageUsually uncountable when referring to general conduct.
Teacher's tipNote the American spelling (behavior) versus the British spelling (behaviour).
PitfallHe has a good behavior. He has good behavior.In this sense, behavior is usually uncountable and does not take the article 'a'.
- 02 B1 Intermediate
the way an animal or living thing acts in its environment.
the observable response or actions produced by an organism in a particular situation.
Simple“Scientists are studying the hunting behavior of lions in the wild.”
In context“Ethologists observe mating behaviors to understand how specific signals evolved within the species over generations.”
UsageCan be countable (behaviors) when referring to specific types of actions.
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
the way a machine, computer program, or system works.
the characteristic operation or functioning of a device, software, or complex system.
Simple“The latest software update changed the behavior of the home button.”
In context“The engineer analyzed the erratic behavior of the cooling system to identify the mechanical failure.”
Synonyms
Usage behavior including using · behavior remained · actual behaviour
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- Proto-Indo-European *kap-der. Proto-Germanic *habjaną Proto-West Germanic *habbjan Proto-West Germanic *bihabbjan Old English behabban Middle English behaven Proto-Indo-European *gʰeh₁bʰ- Proto-Italic *haβēō Latin habeō Old French avoirbor. Middle English havour Middle English behavoure English behavior From Middle English behavoure, behaver, from behaven (modern behave), with the ending apparently in imitation of havour (see 'havior), a corruption of Old French aveir and/or avoir (“a having”), ultimately from Latin habēre. Compare Scots havings (“behavior”), from have (“to behave”). Replaced Old English ġebǣru.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.