beholder (n.)

"one who looks upon or sees, a spectator," late 14c., agent noun from behold.

Entries linking to beholder

Old English bihaldan (West Saxon behealdan) "give regard to, hold in view," also "keep hold of; belong to," from be- + haldan, healdan (see hold (v.)). Related: Beheld; beholding. A common West Germanic compound, compare Old Saxon bihaldan "hold, keep," Old Frisian bihalda "hold, possess, keep, protect, save," Old High German bihaltan, German behalten, but "[t]he application to watching, looking, is confined to English" [OED]. Related: Beholding.

Trends of beholder

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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effect

Meaning "impression produced on the beholder" is from 1736....

clarinet

This instrument astonished every beholder, not so much, perhaps, on account of its sound, as its machinery....

defenestration

extraordinary chance which had saved three lives was a holy miracle or a comic accident according to the religion of the beholder...

beauty

properties which constitute beauty, we may observe in general, that beauty consists in whatever pleases the eye of the beholder...

protest

c. 1400, "avowal, pledge, solemn declaration," from Old French protest, from protester, from Latin protestari "declare publicly, testify, protest," from pro- "forth, before" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "in front of, before") + testari "testify," from testis "witness

auditor

early 14c., "official who receives and examines accounts;" late 14c., "a hearer, one who listens," from Anglo-French auditour (Old French oieor "listener, court clerk," 13c.; Modern French auditeur), from Latin auditor "a hearer, a pupil, scholar, disciple," in Medieval Latin "a

individual

early 15c., "one and indivisible, inseparable" (with reference to the Trinity), from Medieval Latin individualis, from Latin individuus "indivisible," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + dividuus "divisible," from dividere "divide" (see divide (v.)). Original sense now ob

mortal

late 14c., "deadly, destructive to life; causing or threatening death" (of illness, poisons, wounds, etc.); also, of persons or the body, "doomed to die, subject to death;" from Old French mortel "destined to die; deserving of death" and directly from Latin mortalis "subject to d

informant

1690s, "someone who supplies information," from Latin informantem (nominative informans), present participle of informare "train, instruct, educate" (see inform). Occasionally as "one who gives information to the authorities, one who dishonorably betrays knowledge gained in confi

spectator

"one who looks on, a beholder," 1580s, from Latin spectator "viewer, watcher," agent noun from past-participle stem of spectare "to view, watch" (see spectacle). Related: Spectatorial; spectatorship. Fem. form spectatress (1630s) is less classically correct than spectatrix (1610s

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updated on October 07, 2022

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Dictionary entries near beholder

behest

behind

behindhand

behold

beholden

beholder

behoof

behoove

behove

beige

beignet