to see or look at something, especially something impressive or surprising; an archaic or formal way of saying 'look.'
From Old English 'behaldan,' combining 'be-' (around/about) and 'haldan' (to hold). The original sense was 'to hold in sight' or 'to keep in view,' which evolved into the poetic command meaning 'see!' or 'look!'
The word 'behold' sounds old-fashioned now, but it lives on in surprising places—'beholder' in 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and in the exclamation 'lo and behold!' which means 'look at this surprising thing!'
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