behemoth

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/, /ˈbiː.əˌməθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin behemoth,^[2][3][4] from Biblical Hebrew בְּהֵמוֹת (bəhēmōt),^{[5][2][3][4][6]} usually explained as an intensive plural of bəhēmâ “beast”.^[5][3][6] Etymonline notes that the Hebrew word may be an adaptation of an Egyptian word meaning “water ox”, a name for the hippopotamus.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The huge beast described in the Book of Job (1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, as bemoth).^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

Early translations had bemoth, replaced by behemot in 1388.^[2][6] The biblical animal is probably the hippopotamus,^[7][6] but in modern English the word means any creature or thing of enormous size or power.^[3][5][4]

Timeline

• 1382 – the beast in Job, as bemoth.^[7][2]
• 1388 – the form behemot.^[2]
• 1350–1400 – Random House's dating.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Something enormous in size or power.
2. (often capitalized) A huge animal described in the Book of Job, possibly the hippopotamus.

Related words

• leviathan
• juggernaut
• mammoth

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press