Suitable, proper, or necessary; fitting or appropriate to do something.
From 'behove' (Middle English 'bihouuen', from Old English 'behōfian', meaning to be necessary for) plus the adjectival suffix '-ly'. The root originally referred to something being needed or required.
This archaic word reveals how English used to express duty and necessity differently than we do today—where we'd say 'you should' or 'you ought to,' medieval speakers might say something 'behovely' to describe what's fitting or proper for a person.
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