behavior

Noun
Synonyms: behaviourconductdoingsdemeanordemeanourdeportment

WordNet 3.0

Noun (4)

  1. manner of acting or controlling yourselfSynonyms: behaviourconductdoings
  2. the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances“the behavior of small particles can be studied in experiments”Synonyms: behaviour
  3. (behavioral attributes) the way a person behaves toward other peopleSynonyms: demeanordemeanourbehaviourconductdeportment
  4. (psychology) the aggregate of the responses or reactions or movements made by an organism in any situationSynonyms: behaviour
Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Behavior \Be*hav"ior\, n. Manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting one's self; conduct; deportment; carriage; -- used also of inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the behavior of the magnetic needle. [1913 Webster]

A gentleman that is very singular in his behavior. --Steele. [1913 Webster]

To be upon one's good behavior, To be put upon one's good behavior, to be in a state of trial, in which something important depends on propriety of conduct.

During good behavior, while (or so long as) one conducts one's self with integrity and fidelity or with propriety. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Bearing; demeanor; manner.

Usage: Behavior, Conduct. Behavior is the mode in which we have or bear ourselves in the presence of others or toward them; conduct is the mode of our carrying ourselves forward in the concerns of life. Behavior respects our manner of acting in particular cases; conduct refers to the general tenor of our actions. We may say of soldiers, that their conduct had been praiseworthy during the whole campaign, and their behavior admirable in every instance when they met the enemy. [1913 Webster]

The Devil's Dictionary

BEHAVIOR, n. Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding. The word seems to be somewhat loosely used in Dr. Jamrach Holobom's translation of the following lines from the _Dies Irae_:

Recordare, Jesu pie, Quod sum causa tuae viae. Ne me perdas illa die.

Pray remember, sacred Savior, Whose the thoughtless hand that gave your Death-blow. Pardon such behavior.

Advertisement