behemoth

C2 Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/ See IPA manual

Freq #35925

Meanings

1

noun
Any great and mighty monster.

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.
2

noun
Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.

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.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · something which has the... colossus leviathan mammothtitan

Word family

Derived forms behemothianbehemothic

Related forms leviathan

Etymology

From Middle English behemoth, bemoth, from Late Latin behemoth, from Hebrew בְּהֵמוֹת (behemót). Most likely, the Hebrew word is an intensive plural of בְּהֵמָה (behemá, “beast”), from Proto-Semitic (compare Ge'ez ብህመ (bəhmä, “to be dumb, to be speechless”), Arabic ب ه م (b h m)). Some have instead suggested a borrowing from a hypothetical Egyptian pA-i-H-E1-mw (*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, compare the later Coptic descendants ⲡ- (p-) + ⲉϩⲉ (...

Topics

Abstract Ideas

External links

# behemoth

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/
**Frequency rank:** 35925

## Meanings
1. Any great and mighty monster.
2. Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.

## Examples
- 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.
- 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.

## Synonyms
- colossus
- leviathan
- mammoth
- titan

## Derived Forms
- behemothian
- behemothic

## Related Forms
- leviathan

## Etymology
From Middle English behemoth, bemoth, from Late Latin behemoth, from Hebrew בְּהֵמוֹת (behemót). Most likely, the Hebrew word is an intensive plural of בְּהֵמָה (behemá, “beast”), from Proto-Semitic (compare Ge'ez ብህመ (bəhmä, “to be dumb, to be speechless”), Arabic ب ه م (b h m)). Some have instead suggested a borrowing from a hypothetical Egyptian pA-i-H-E1-mw (*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, compare the later Coptic descendants ⲡ- (p-) + ⲉϩⲉ (...

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas

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