Standard Lemma guide

behemoth

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/
  • /ˈbiː.əˌməθ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: B AH0 HH IY1 M AH0 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: B IY1 HH AH0 M AH0 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biblical, lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any great and mighty monster.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: colossus, leviathan, mammoth, titan

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a person of exceptional importance and reputation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: colossus, giant, heavyweight, titan

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: important person, influential person, personage

5

noun

Meaning 5

someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: giant, goliath, monster, colossus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: anomaly, unusual person

History

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.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَهِيمُوث (bahīmūṯ) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Arabic: بَهَمُوت (bahamūt) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Belarusian: бегемо́т (bjehjemót) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Bulgarian: бегемо́т (begemót) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Chinese Mandarin: 貝西摩斯 /贝西摩斯 (bèixīmósī) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巨獸 /巨兽 (jùshòu) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Czech: behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Esperanto: behemoto — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Finnish: behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Finnish: virtahepo — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • French: Béhémoth — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • German: Behemoth — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • German: Moloch — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Hebrew: בְּהֵמוֹת (behemót) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Japanese: ベヘモット (behemotto) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Japanese: ベヒーモス (behīmosu) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Korean: 베헤모스 (behemoseu) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Macedonian: бегемот (begemot) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Norwegian Bokmål: Behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Polish: Behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Portuguese: Beemôt — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Russian: бегемо́т (begemót) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Spanish: behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Swedish: Behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Turkish: behemot — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Turkish: dev mahluk — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Turkish: dev yaratık — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Ukrainian: бегемо́т (behemót) — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Zulu: uBehemoti — mighty beast in the Book of Job
  • Chinese Mandarin: 巨獸 /巨兽 (jùshòu) — mighty monster
  • Czech: obluda — mighty monster
  • Esperanto: behemo — mighty monster
  • Esperanto: behemoto — mighty monster
  • French: béhémoth — mighty monster
  • French: béhémot — mighty monster
  • German: Riesentier — mighty monster
  • Polish: monstrum — mighty monster
  • Russian: чу́дище (čúdišče) — mighty monster
  • Russian: чудо́вище (čudóvišče) — mighty monster
  • Russian: монстр (monstr) — mighty monster
  • Turkish: dev — mighty monster
  • Turkish: dev hayvan — mighty monster
  • Finnish: jättiläinen — something of great size and power
  • German: Gigant — something of great size and power
  • German: Koloss — something of great size and power
  • Polish: moloch — something of great size and power
  • Polish: olbrzym — something of great size and power
  • Polish: kolos — something of great size and power
  • Polish: gigant — something of great size and power
  • Portuguese: mastodonte — something of great size and power
  • Russian: гига́нт (gigánt) — something of great size and power
  • Russian: велика́н (velikán) — something of great size and power
  • Russian: исполи́н (ispolín) — something of great size and power
  • Spanish: socotroco — something of great size and power
  • Spanish: zocotroco — something of great size and power
  • Turkish: dev — something of great size and power