beast

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An animal, especially a large or dangerous wild one.

   Lions, tigers, and other wild beasts roamed the plain.

2. 2
   noun

   Something unusually large, powerful, or hard to deal with.

   That new sports car is an absolute beast.

3. 3
   noun

   A cruel or brutal person.

   He was a beast to his younger brother.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Beast entered Middle English from Latin besta. It was the older general term for an animal and remained in use alongside animal after that word became established as a noun.

From Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French bête), from Latin bēstia (“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary