behemoth English · revision 1928

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/, /ˈbiː.əˌməθ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|behemoth]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|hbo|בְּהֵמוֹת|tr=bəhēmōt]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) usually explained as an intensive plural of ''bəhēmâ'' “beast”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Etymonline notes that the Hebrew word may be an adaptation of an Egyptian word meaning “water ox”, a name for the hippopotamus.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The huge beast described in the Book of Job (1382, in the Wycliffite Bible, as ''bemoth'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Early translations had ''bemoth'', replaced by ''behemot'' in 1388.^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) The biblical animal is probably the hippopotamus,^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) but in modern English the word means any creature or thing of enormous size or power.^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – the beast in Job, as ''bemoth''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1388 – the form ''behemot''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1350–1400 – Random House's dating.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something enormous in size or power.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' A huge animal described in the Book of [[Job]], possibly the [[hippopotamus]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[leviathan]]

+ * [[juggernaut]]

+ * [[mammoth]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}