ENGLISH
REFERENCE

behemoth

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

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.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

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