Word of the Day

: July 25, 2018

behemoth

noun bih-HEE-muth

What It Means

1 often capitalized : a mighty animal described in Job 40:15-24 as an example of the power of God

2 : something of monstrous size, power, or appearance

behemoth in Context

"Dowd, who has lived in the same housing development since 1989, keeps a plot in the community garden: a mulchy oasis amid brick behemoths." — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 25 June 2018

"Pietro's tiny shop has become a behemoth that sells goods in more than 160 countries, employs 40,000 people and makes 365,000 tons of Nutella per year." — Noah Kirsch, Forbes, 30 June 2018

Did You Know?

The original behemoth is biblical; it designates a mysterious river-dwelling beast in the Book of Job. Based on that description, scholars have concluded that the biblical behemoth was probably inspired by a hippopotamus, but details about the creature's exact nature are vague. The word first passed from Hebrew into Late Latin, where, according to English poet and monk John Lydgate, writing in 1430, it "playne expresse[d] a beast rude full of cursednesse." In English, behemoth was eventually applied more generally to anything large and powerful.