behemoth

English
WOTD – 3 July 2006
Behemoth and Leviathan, by William Blake

Etymology

From Middle English behemoth, bemoth, from Late Latin behemoth, from Hebrew בהמות‎ (bəhēmōt). The Hebrew word is either:

  • an intensive plural of בהמה‎ (bəhēmāh, “beast”), from Proto-Semitic (compare Ethiopic ብህመ (bəhmä, “to be dumb, to be speechless”), Arabic ب ه م‎ (b-h-m)), or
  • a borrowing of Egyptian
    (*pꜣ-jḥ-mw, “hippopotamus”, literally “the ox of the water”), from pꜣ (“definite article”) + jḥ (“ox, cattle”) + mw (“water”) in a direct genitive construction; for the pronunciation, cf. the later Coptic descendants ⲡ- (p-) + ⲉϩⲉ (ehe) + ⲙⲟⲟⲩ (moou).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /bəˈhi(ː)məθ/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

behemoth (plural behemoths)

  1. (biblical) A great and mighty beast God shows Job in Job 40:15-24.
  2. A great and mighty monster.
  3. (by extension) Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.
    Synonyms: colossus, leviathan, mammoth, titan
    • 2011 January 18, Lovejoy, Joe, “Cardiff City 0 Stoke City 2”, in Guardian Online‎:
      The diehards who did turn out were at least rewarded with a first sight of Jon Parkin, the behemoth striker signed from Preston, who scored a stunning goal on his debut at Norwich last weekend.
    • 2012, James S. A. Corey, Gods of Risk, →ISBN:
      The wide access corridors passed slowly, the conduits and pipes like the circulatory system of some vast planetary behemoth.

Quotations
  • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Job 40:15–18:
    Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
    Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
    He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
    His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
  • 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 58:
    Next she doused the smouldering troll with the contents of the restaurant's fire extinguisher, hoping the icy powder wouldn't revive the sleeping behemoth.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading
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