| 释义 |
behemoth|bɪˈhiːməθ, -ɔːθ|
Forms: 4–5 bemoth, behemot, 6– behemoth.
[Heb. b'hēmōth, used in Job xl. 15. In form the word is the plural of b'hēmāh ‘beast,’ and might be interpreted ‘great or monstrous beast’ (plural of dignity). But most moderns take it as really an Egyptian word p-ehe-mau, which would mean ‘water-ox,’ assimilated in Hebrew mouths to a Hebrew form.]
An animal mentioned in the book of Job; probably the hippopotamus; but also used in modern literature as a general expression for one of the largest and strongest animals. Cf. leviathan.
1382Wyclif Job xl. 10 Lo! bemoth [1388 behemot, 1611 behemoth] that I made with thee. 1430Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xvii, Whom the Hebrues..call Bemoth that doth in latin playne expresse A beast rude full of cursednesse. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 471 Behemoth biggest born of earth. 1727Thomson Summer 710 The flood disparts: behold! in plaited mail, Behemoth rears his head. 1818Keats Endym. iii. 134 Skeletons of man, Of beast, behemoth, and leviathan. 1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. iv. i. 310 The might Of earth-convulsing behemoth. 1857Emerson Poems 306 Be swift their feet as antelopes, And as behemoth strong.
fig.1592G. Harvey Pierces Super., Will soone finde the huge Behemoth of conceit to be the sprat of a pickle herring. 1850Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xv. 140 He's a perfect behemoth. |