beast

beast

See also: Beast

English

Alternative forms

• beest (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English beeste, beste, from Old French beste (French bête), from Latin bēstia (“animal, beast”); many cognates – see bēstia.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /biːst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːst

Noun

beast (plural beasts)

1. Any animal other than a human; usually only applied to land vertebrates, especially large or dangerous four-footed ones.
   • 1611, “Leviticus 11:3”, in King James Version‎:

     Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

2. (more specific) A domestic animal, especially a bovine farm animal.
   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 1, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess‎:

     ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’

3. A person who behaves in a violent, antisocial or uncivilized manner.
4. (slang) Anything regarded as larger or more powerful than one of its normal size or strength.

   That is a beast of a stadium.

   The subwoofer that comes with this set of speakers is a beast.

5. (slang) Someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically.
6. (prison slang, derogatory) A sex offender.
   • 1994, Elaine Player, Michael Jenkins, Prisons After Woolf: Reform Through Riot (page 190)

     Shouts had been heard: 'We're coming to kill you, beasts.' In desperation, Rule 43s had tried to barricade their doors […]

   • 1994, Adam Sampson, Acts of Abuse: Sex Offenders And the Criminal Justice System, page 83:

     For many prisoners and in many prisons, antipathy towards 'nonces' or 'beasts' is little more than an idea […]

7. (figuratively) Something unpleasant and difficult.
   • 2000, Tom Clancy, The Bear and the Dragon, Berkley, published 2001, →ISBN, page 905:

     […] Even unopposed, the natural obstacles are formidable, and defending his line of advance will be a beast of a problem."

   • 2006, Heather Burt, Adam's Peak, Dundurn Press, published 2006, →ISBN, page 114:

     He'd be in the hospital a few days — broken collarbone, a cast on his arm, a beast of a headache — but fine.

8. A thing or matter, especially a difficult or unruly one.
   • 2003, John Derbyshire, Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problems in Mathematics:

     Now, the nucleus of a heavy element is a very peculiar beast.

   • 2010, Rob Chapman, A Very Irregular Head: The Life of Syd Barrett, page 65:

     'Lucy Leave', also known as 'Lucy Lea in Blue Tights', is a stranger beast altogether. Musically it is as derivative as everything else the band was playing at this time

   • 2012, Kylee Swenson Gordon, Electronic Musician Presents the Recording Secrets Behind 50 Great Albums:

     But Wasting Light, recorded analog to tape (API 1608 32track, two Studer 827s) with no computers, not even to mix or master, is an entirely different beast.

   • 2017, Riley Sager, Final Girls, page 141:

     Murder is a stranger beast than suicide, although the end result of both is the same.

Derived terms

• beastly
• beast of burden
• beast of draught
• beast of venery
• cattle beast
• gripping beast
• hype beast
• mark of the beast
• minibeast
• saddle beast
• shebeast
• two-legged beast
• wonder-beast

 

Derived terms

terms derived from beast (noun)

• beast fable
• beastie
• beastly
• beastmaster
• beast mode
• beast of burden
• beast of draft
• beast of prey
• beast with two backs
• beauty and the beast
• belly of the beast
• different beast
• king of beasts
• lobola-beast
• nature of the beast
• Number of the Beast
• wonderbeast

 

Related terms

• bestial
• bestiary

Related terms

terms related to beast (noun)

• bestial
• bestiality
• bestiary
• bête noire
• bêtise
• hartebeest
• wildebeest

 

Translations

non-human animal

Albanian: bishë (sq) n Amharic: አውሬ (ʾäwre) Arabic: وَحْش‎ m (waḥš) Armenian: կենդանի (hy) (kendani), (wild) գազան (hy) (gazan) Asturian: bestia (ast), fiera (ast) Atong (India): mat Bashkir: хайуан (xayuan) Basque: aberetzar Belarusian: звер m (zvjer), жывёла (be) f (žyvjóla) Bulgarian: звяр (bg) (zvjar), живо́тно (bg) (živótno) Catalan: bèstia (ca) f, fera (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 四足獸／四足兽 (sì zú shòu), 獸／兽 (zh) (shòu), 野獸／野兽 (zh) (yěshòu) Chukchi: гынник (gynnik) Czech: zvíře (cs) n, bestie f, živočich (cs) m Danish: bæst (da) n, vilddyr n, dyr (da) n Dutch: beest (nl) n, wild dier n, dier (nl) n Esperanto: besto (eo) Estonian: elajas (et) Finnish: elukka (fi); peto (fi) French: bête (fr) f, bête sauvage f Georgian: მხეცი (mxeci), ცხოველი (cxoveli) German: Tier (de) n, Bestie (de) f Gothic: 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃 n (dius) Greek: τέρας (el) n (téras), θηρίο (el) n (thirío) Ancient: θήρ m (thḗr), θηρίον n (thēríon) Haitian Creole: bèt Hebrew: חַיָּה‎ (he) f (ḥayyá), בְּהֵמָה‎ (he) f (behemá) Higaonon: langgam Hindi: वहश (hi) m (vahaś), जानवर (hi) m (jānvar), हैवान (hi) m (haivān), जंतु (hi) m (jantu), मृग (hi) m (mŕg) Hungarian: vadállat (hu), bestia (hu), dög (hu) Ido: bestio (io) Irish: beithíoch m Istriot: bies'cia f Italian: bestia (it) f, belva (it) f Japanese: 野獣 (ja) (やじゅう, yajū) (wild beast), 猛獣 (ja) (もうじゅう, mōjū) (savage beast), 獣 (ja) (けもの, kemono) Kaingang: mĩg Kashmiri: جانور‎ (jānōr) Kazakh: хайуан (xaiuan) Korean: 짐승 (ko) (jimseung), 야수(野獸) (ko) (yasu) Latgalian: zviers m, dzeivnīks m, žeivots m Latin: bēstia (la) f, fera (la) f Latvian: dzīvnieks m, zvērs (lv) m Lithuanian: žvėris m Macedonian: ѕвер m (dzver), животно (mk) n (životno) Middle French: beste Mongolian: Cyrillic: ан (mn) (an), араатан (mn) (araatan) Nahuatl: tecuani (nah) Occitan: bèstia (oc) f, fèra (oc) f Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: звѣрь m (zvěrĭ) Old East Slavic: звѣрь m (zvěrĭ) Old English: dēor n Old French: beste f Ottoman Turkish: حیوان‎ (hayvan) Pashto: ژوي‎ (ps) Persian: دد‎ (fa) (dad) Plautdietsch: Tia n Polish: zwierzę (pl) n, bestia (pl) f Portuguese: fera (pt) f, besta (pt) f Punjabi: ਹੈਵਾਨ m (haivān) Romanian: bestie (ro), fiară (ro) Russian: зверь (ru) m (zverʹ), живо́тное (ru) n (živótnoje), тварь (ru) f (tvarʹ), бе́стия (ru) f (béstija) Rusyn: звірь m (zvirʹ) Scottish Gaelic: ainmhidh (gd) m, beathach m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зве̑р m, звије̑р m, чу̏довӣште n, живо̀тиња f, зверка f, звијерка f Roman: zver (sh) f, zvijer (sh) f, čȕdovīšte (sh) n, živòtinja (sh) f, zverka f, zvijerka f Slovak: zviera n, zver f, šelma (sk) f, živočích (sk) m Slovene: zver (sl) f, žival (sl) f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: zwěrje n Upper Sorbian: zwěrjo n Spanish: bestia (es) f Swahili: nunda class 9/10 Swedish: best (sv) c Tajik: дад (dad), дарранда (darranda) Telugu: జంతువు (te) (jantuvu), మృగము (te) (mr̥gamu) Ukrainian: звір (uk) m (zvir), твари́на (uk) f (tvarýna) Volapük: nim (vo), lunim, bestaf Western Panjabi: حیوان‎ m (hyvān) Yiddish: בעסטיע‎ f (bestye)

domestic animal

Finnish: elukka (fi) French: bête (fr) f German: Tier (de) n Hungarian: állat (hu), jószág (hu) Swahili: mnyama (sw) class 1/2

violent/antisocial person

Albanian: bishë (sq) n Arabic: مُتَوَحِّش‎ (ar) m (mutawaḥḥiš) Armenian: անասուն (hy) (anasun), գազան (hy) (gazan) Catalan: bèstia (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 畜生 (zh) (chùshēng), 兇暴而殘忍的人／凶暴而残忍的人, 凶暴而残忍[[]]的人 (xiōngbào ér cánrěn de rén), 禽獸／禽兽 (zh) (qínshòu) Czech: bestie f Dutch: beest (nl) n Finnish: hirviö (fi), peto (fi); moukka (fi) German: Unmensch (de), Bestie (de) f, Biest (de) n Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌱𐌹𐌰𐍂𐌹 n (unbiari) Greek: κτήνος (el) n (ktínos), ζώο (el) n (zóo), τέρας (el) n (téras) Hebrew: חַיָּה‎ (he) f (ḥayyá), בְּהֵמָה‎ (he) f (behemá) Hindi: पशु (hi) m (paśu) Hungarian: vadállat (hu), állat (hu) Indonesian: buas (id) Japanese: 獣 (ja) (けもの, kemono), けだもの (kedamono) Latin: bēstia (la) f, ferus (la) Maori: nau(w)hea Ottoman Turkish: حیوان‎ (hayvan) Polish: bestia (pl) f, bydlak (pl) m, bydlę (pl) n Portuguese: fera (pt) f, besta (pt) f Russian: монстр (ru) m (monstr), зверь (ru) m (zverʹ), чудо́вище (ru) n (čudóvišče), скоти́на (ru) f (skotína) Scottish Gaelic: brùid f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: зве̑р m, звије̑р m, чу̏довӣште n Roman: zver (sh) f, zvijer (sh) f, čȕdovīšte (sh) n Slovene: zver (sl) f, zverina (sl) f Spanish: bestia (es) f, animal (es) m, salvaje (es) m or f Swahili: nunda class 9/10 Telugu: పశువు (te) (paśuvu) Yiddish: בעסטיע‎ f (bestye)

large or impressive thing or structure

Finnish: monsteri (fi)

slang: someone who is particularly impressive, especially athletically or physically

Finnish: elukka (fi)

prison slang: sex offender

something unpleasant and difficult

Finnish: hirviö (fi)

difficult or unruly thing

Finnish: otus (fi), kummajainen (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Northern Ndebele: (please verify) belchew n, (please verify) ibde n Southern Ndebele: (please verify) belchew n, (please verify) ibde n

See also

• belluine (suppletive adjective)

Verb

beast (third-person singular simple present beasts, present participle beasting, simple past and past participle beasted)

1. (Britain, military) to impose arduous exercises, either as training or as punishment.

Adjective

beast (comparative more beast, superlative most beast)

1. (slang, chiefly Midwestern and northeastern US) great; excellent; powerful
   • 1999, "Jason Chue", AMD K6-2 350mhz, FIC VA503+, LGS 64mb PC100 sdram (on newsgroup jaring.pcbase)

     There is another type from Siemens which is the HYB 39S64XXX(AT/ATL) -8B version (notice the "B" and the end) which is totally beast altogether.

   • 2012, Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits, page 37:

     Translation: a piece of crap, but the rest of the car was totally beast.

Anagrams

• Bates, Sebat, abets, baste, bates, beats, besat, betas, esbat, tabes

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Middle English

Noun

beast

1. Alternative form of beeste

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Etymology

From Middle English beeste (“livestock”), from Old French beste, from Latin bestia.

Noun

beast (plural beasthès)

1. beast
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Hornta beast.

     A horned beast.

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 47