behemoth
/bəˈhi(ː).məθ/
"behemoth" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“behemoth” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,930 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #29,930
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | behemoth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #29,930 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “behemoth” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for behemoth is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,930 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for behemoth, with forms such as "bbehemoth", "beehmoth", and "behemmoth". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”)… The correct English form is behemoth, spelled B-E-H-E-M-O-T-H.
Definition
- 1A great and mighty beast which God shows to Job in Job 40:15–24.
- 2Any great and mighty monster.
- 3Something which has the qualities of great power and might, and monstrous proportions.
Etymology
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.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbehemoth,beehmoth,behemmoth,behemoht,behemothh,behemotth,behemtoh,beheomth,behhemoth,behmeoth,bheemoth,ebhemoth
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of behemoth - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "behemoth"?
What does "behemoth" mean?
What are common misspellings of "behemoth"?
How do you pronounce "behemoth"?
What is the origin of the word "behemoth"?
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Using “behemoth”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-H-E-M-O-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bəˈhi(ː).məθ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.