Enoch
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 an iron sledgehammer Yorkshire, dialectal
"Each swung cast-iron Enoch of Leeds stress clangs a forged music on the frames of Art, the looms of owned language smashed apart!"
- 1 In the Bible, one of the few people recorded as being taken by God before death.
"Enoch was the son of Jared, and was Noah’s great grandfather."
- 2 The title of three apocryphal books of the Bible.
- 3 First son of Cain.
"And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."
- 4 A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.
"There Enoch spoke no word to any one, But homeward—home—what home? had he a home? His home, he walk'd."
- 5 A First Nation reserve in Alberta, Canada; the postal name of Stony Plain Indian Reserve No. 135.
Example
More examples"He found the door open, and in the front room, which is bare of furniture, discovered the body of a gentleman, well dressed, and having cards in his pocket bearing the name of 'Enoch J. Drebber, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.'"
Etymology
From Late Latin Enoch, from Ancient Greek Ἑνώχ (Henṓkh), from Hebrew חֲנוֹךְ (Ḥănôḵ).
Named after a blacksmith Enoch Taylor of Marsden, Yorkshire. Used by Luddites to smash cropping machines, Taylor made sledgehammers and also the machine frames which sparked riots: "Enoch made them. Enoch shall break them".
Related phrases
More for "enoch"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.