Standard Lemma guide
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
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name
An ancient Ammonite deity worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant, often depicted with the head of a bull.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
A person or thing demanding or requiring a very costly sacrifice.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Any of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
any lizard of the genus Moloch
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: agamid, agamid lizard
Narrower terms: mountain devil, spiny lizard, Moloch horridus
noun
god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians to whom parents sacrificed their children
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: Molech
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Semitic deity
noun
a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice- Norman Douglas
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: power, force
History
From the Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king”). The figurative sense derives from the Old Testament, in which it is alleged that the cult of Moloch involved the sacrifice of human children.
From Hebrew מולך (molokh, “Ammonite god, worshipped by Canaanites and Phoenicians, who demanded child-sacrifice. Mentioned in Leviticus and Deuteronomy”).
Across languages
8 source translations are retained for this English entry.
