behest

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be·hest

 (bĭ-hĕst′)
n.
1. An authoritative command.
2. An urgent request: I called the office at the behest of my assistant.

[Middle English bihest, vow, from Old English behǣs; see keiə- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

behest

(bɪˈhɛst)
n
an authoritative order or earnest request
[Old English behǣs, from behātan; see be-, hest]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•hest

(bɪˈhɛst)

n.
1. a command; directive.
2. an earnest request.
[before 1000; Middle English bihest(e), Old English behǣs promise. See be-, hest]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

behest

, request - Behest is a stronger term than request.
See also related terms for request.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.behest - an authoritative command or request
bid, bidding, command, dictation - an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

behest

noun
at someone's behest at someone's command, by someone's order, at someone's demand, at someone's wish, by someone's decree, at someone's bidding, at someone's instruction, by someone's mandate, at someone's dictate, at someone's commandment He did it at his wife's behest.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

behest

noun
An authoritative indication to be obeyed:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

behest

[bɪˈhest] N (frm) at his behesta petición suya
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

behest

[bɪˈhɛst] n
at sb's behest, at the behest of sb → sur l'ordre de qn
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

behest

n (liter)Geheiß nt (liter); at his behest/the behest of his uncleauf sein Geheiß (liter)/auf Geheiß seines Onkels (liter)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

behest

[bɪˈhɛst] n at his behestsu suo ordine
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Who are these people at whose instigation Duson was to have murdered you - these people whom Duson feared so much that suicide was his only alternative to obeying their behests?"
Thereon they would have hacked at one another in close combat with their swords, had not heralds, messengers of gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the other from the Achaeans--Talthybius and Idaeus both of them honourable men; these parted them with their staves, and the good herald Idaeus said, "My sons, fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Jove; we know this; but night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well gainsaid."
To violence, injustice, tyranny, she succumbed--they were her natural masters; she had no propensity to hate, no impulse to resist them; the indignation their behests awake in some hearts was unknown in hers.
"I have been doing my aunt's behests," he explained.
``But that I judge I listen to a voice whose behests must not be disputed,'' answered the yeoman,