behemoth

English

WOTD – 3 July 2006

Behemoth and Leviathan, by William Blake

Etymology

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

• an intensive plural of בהמה‏ (bəhēmāh, “beast”), from Proto-Semitic (compare Ethiopic [script needed] (bəhma, “dumb, speechless”), Arabic [script needed] (ʼabham, “animal”) (declined as bahma(t), bahīma(t))), 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. Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.
   • 2011 January 18, Lovejoy, Joe, “Cardiff City 0 Stoke City 2”, in Guardian Online^[1]:

     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 9780316217651:

     The wide access corridors passed slowly, the conduits and pipes like the circulatory system of some vast planetary behemoth.

Synonyms

• (something of great size and power): colossus, leviathan, mammoth, titan

Quotations

• 1611, Bible (King James Version), 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.

Translations

mighty beast in the Book of Job

• Arabic: بَهِيمُوث‏‎ (bahīmūṯ), بَهَمُوت‏‎ (bahamūt)
• Czech: behemot m
• Esperanto: behemoto
• Finnish: behemot (fi), virtahepo (fi)
• French: Béhémoth (fr), Béhémot m
• German: Behemot, Moloch (de) m
• Hebrew: בהמות‏‎ (he) (Bəhēmôth)

• Japanese: ベヘモット (behemotto), ベヒーモス (behīmosu)
• Portuguese: Beemôt m
• Russian: ("hippopotamus" in modern Russian) бегемо́т (ru) m (begemót)
• Spanish: behemot f pl (rare)
• Swedish: Behemot
• Turkish: behemot, dev yaratık
• Zulu: uBehemoti

mighty monster

• Czech: obluda f
• Esperanto: behemo, behemoto
• French: béhémoth m, béhémot m

• German: Riesentier n
• Russian: чу́дище (ru) n (čúdišče), чудо́вище (ru) n (čudóvišče), монстр (ru) m (monstr)
• Turkish: dev (tr), dev hayvan

something of great size and power

• Finnish: jättiläinen (fi)
• German: Gigant (de) m, Koloss (de) m

• Russian: гига́нт (ru) m (gigánt), велика́н (ru) m (velikán), исполи́н (ru) m (ispolín)
• Turkish: dev (tr)

Derived terms

• behemothian
• behemothic

See also

• leviathan