behemoth means A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 72 out of 100.
behemoth is pronounced /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/.
Why “behemoth” is a great word
BEHEMOTH — [Noun] A great and mighty beast of monstrous proportions, or by extension, any entity of immense size and power. From Middle English behemoth, from Late Latin behemoth, from Hebrew בְּהֵמוֹת (behemót), an intensive plural of בְּהֵמָה (behemá, “beast”), from a Proto-Semitic root connoting dumbness. Unlike "leviathan," which conjures a serpentine terror of the deep, or "colossus," which suggests a crafted monument, a behemoth is an elemental force of the earth, imbued with a primal, biblical gravity. It is the shadow of a mountain range at dusk, the grinding tread of a supertanker-sized mining truck, and the glacial advance of a bureaucracy too vast to comprehend—the sublime terror of pure, unthinking scale.
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 (ehe) + ⲙⲟⲟⲩ (moou)); this, however, suffers from problems such as the lack of attestation of the supposed etymon, and there seems little reason to prefer it to the intensive plural explanation.
noun
- A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24.“⸿ Beholde now Behemoth which I made with thee, hee eateth graſſe as an oxe.
Loe now, his ſtrength is in his loynes, and his force is in the nauell of his belly.
Hee moueth his taile like a Cedar: the ſinewes of his ſtones are wrapt together.
His bones are as ſtrong pieces of braſſe: his bones are like barres of iron.”
- 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.”
- 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.”