'havior

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English havour, a corruption of Old French aveir, avoir (a having), of same origin as English aver (a workhorse). The h is due to confusion with have.

Noun

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'havior

  1. (obsolete) behaviour; demeanor
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “Act 1, Scene 2”, in Hamlet:
      Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, / Nor customary suits of solemn black, / Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, / No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, / Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage, / Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, / That can denote me truly...;
    • 1897, Julia Ditto Young, The Story of Saville, Part 6:
      Her who had made him a pastime, bridging the winter across
      With a masque, a foolery petty and vain, amusing herself with his loss,—
      God! it had been but an insult throughout, her ’havior so sisterly free

References

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