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Moloch

//ˈmoʊlɑk// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    An ancient Ammonite deity worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant, often depicted with the head of a bull.
  2. 2
    A person or thing demanding or requiring a very costly sacrifice. figuratively

    "[W]e can't without wonder remember that horrid Invention projected in this place, but thanks be to God diſappointed, wherein there was not Reverence to the ſacred Bones of Princes, but all were at one blaſt to be offer'd up to Moloch."

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of species Moloch horridus of Australian lizards, sole species of the genus Moloch.
  2. 2
    any lizard of the genus Moloch wordnet
  3. 3
    a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From the Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king”). The figurative sense derives from the Old Testament, in which it is alleged that the cult of Moloch involved the sacrifice of human children.

Etymology 2

From Hebrew מולך (molokh, “Ammonite god, worshipped by Canaanites and Phoenicians, who demanded child-sacrifice. Mentioned in Leviticus and Deuteronomy”).

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