Advertisement

Moloch

Canaanite god frequently mentioned in Scripture, said to have been propitiated by sacrificing children (Leviticus xviii.21), from Latin Moloch, from Greek Molokh, from Hebrew molekh, from melekh "king," altered by the Jews with the vowel points from basheth "shame" to express their horror of the worship. Hence, figuratively, "any baleful influence to which everything is sacrificed" (1799).

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of Moloch from WordNet
1
moloch (n.)
any lizard of the genus Moloch;
2
Moloch (n.)
a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice; "duty has become the Moloch of modern life"- Norman Douglas;
Moloch (n.)
god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians to whom parents sacrificed their children;
Synonyms: Molech
From wordnet.princeton.edu