Etymologically
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behemoth

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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.

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