on behalf of

English

Prepositional phrase

on behalf of

1. Speaking or acting for.

   On behalf of all those present, may I thank you for a well-executed presentation.

Usage notes

Although on behalf of and in behalf of are usually used interchangeably, the former steadily replacing the latter in frequency of use, a distinction in meaning has been made by some commentators. As those commentators have it:

• to "speak on behalf of a person or entity" is to speak on someone's side or part as their explicitly or implicitly delegated representative.

  On behalf of the mayor, I declare this to be our city's fix-up and paint-up day.

• To "speak in behalf of a person or entity" is to speak in that person's interest, favor, or aid without explicit or implicit deputization, and especially if they are unable to speak for themselves.

  to plead in behalf of a cause

Historically, in was much more common (7:1) in US usage than on with behalf. Nowadays, however, it has been almost totally (30:1) replaced by on. Moreover, the remaining usage of in behalf of does not systematically follow the pattern prescribed by the commentators. Current British usage also shows on behalf of to be much more common than in behalf of. Garner's Modern American Usage (2009) suggests that interchangeability is almost completely accepted.

Synonyms

• (speaking or acting for): in behalf of (dated)

Derived terms

• for and on behalf of

Translations

speaking or acting for

• Arabic: بِاسْم (ar) (bi-sm), بِالنِّيَابَة عَن (bi-n-niyāba ʕan)

  Egyptian Arabic: بالنيابة عن (ben-nyaba ʕan)

• Assamese: -অৰ হৈ (-or hoi)
• Bulgarian: от и́мето на (ot ímeto na)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 替 (zh) (tì), 代表 (zh) (dàibiǎo)

• Cornish: a-barth, bar'
• Czech: jménem (cs)
• Danish: på vegne af
• Dutch: namens (nl)
• Estonian: (kellegi) nimel, (kellegi) heaks
• Finnish: puolesta (fi), nimissä
• French: au nom de (fr), pour le compte de (fr)
• Galician: no nome de
• German: im Namen von (de), im Interesse von, im Auftrag von, zu Gunsten von
• Greek: εκ μέρους (el) (ek mérous)

  Ancient Greek: ὑπέρ (hupér) (+ genitive)

• Hebrew: מטעם (mitaam)
• Indonesian: atas nama (id)
• Irish: as ucht (takes the genitive), ar son

  Old Irish: tar cenn

• Italian: per conto di, a nome di
• Japanese: ...の代わりに (ja) (...のかわりに, no kawari ni), ...を代表して (ja) (...をだいひょうして, ... o daihyō shite)
• Latin: prō (la) (+ ablative)
• Malagasy: amin'ny anaran'i
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: верч (verč)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: på vegne av (no)

  Nynorsk: på vegner av

• Occitan: al nom de
• Polish: w imieniu (pl)
• Portuguese: em nome de
• Russian: от и́мени (ru) (ot ímeni), от лица́ (ru) (ot licá)
• Scottish Gaelic: às leth
• Spanish: en nombre de, de parte de
• Swahili: kwa niaba ya
• Turkish: namı hesabına, namına
• Ukrainian: від і́мені (vid ímeni)
• Welsh: tros, dros, ar ran

See also

• in behalf of
• in propria persona
• in the interest of
• on account of
• on the part of
• deputy

Further reading

• “behalf”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.