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.

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.

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• behemothian
• behemothic

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)

See also

• leviathan