English Reference
Noun

behemoth

n.
C1 Advanced US /ˈbihəməθ/ UK /bɪhˈiːmɒθ/ be·he·moth UK spelling behemoths

n.a very large and powerful company or organization. It is often used to describe a business that is so big it seems like it controls everything in its industry.

n.a large, powerful, and influential entity, typically a corporation or organization. Often carries a connotation of being a dominant force that is difficult to challenge or regulate.


SIMPLE

The tech giant is a true behemoth in the global market.

CONTEXTUAL

As a market behemoth, the company has the resources to outlast smaller competitors during economic downturns.

COMPLEX

Regulators are increasingly concerned that the digital behemoth's monopoly status stifles innovation and limits consumer choice across the entire sector.

The likes of Miramax, New Line Cinema and October Films challenged the ageing behemoths of the industry and pushed forward offbeat directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Darren Aronofsky and Jane Campion.

The Guardian· 19 Aug 2026

Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie was actually a much funnier and more ingenious comedy about cartoon creatures suing corporate behemoths.

The Guardian· 19 Aug 2026

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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin egy *pꜣ-jḥ-mw
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated