Word of the Day

: December 7, 2009

Nimrod

noun NIM-rahd

What It Means

1 : a descendant of Ham represented in Genesis as a mighty hunter and a king of Shinar

2 : hunter

3 : idiot, jerk

Nimrod in Context

Dad fancied himself a mighty nimrod after he captured the rabbit who had been eating our garden.

Did You Know?

Nimrod is described in Genesis as "the first on earth to be a mighty man" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord." It's easy to see how people made the leap from one mighty hunter in the Bible to calling any hunter a "nimrod." A lesser-known fact is that "nimrod" has seen some use in English as a noun meaning "tyrant" (apparently, the mighty Nimrod was not reputed to be an especially benevolent king), although that sense is now essentially obsolete. The legendary Nimrod is also sometimes associated with the attempt to build the Tower of Babel. Because the tower resulted in the wrath of the Lord and proved a disastrous idea, "nimrod" is sometimes used with yet another meaning: "a stupid person."