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Beelzebub

[bee-el-zuh-buhb, beel-zuh-]
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noun
  1. the chief devil; Satan.
  2. a devil.
  3. (in Milton's Paradise Lost) one of the fallen angels, second only to Satan.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for beelzebub

Historical Examples

  • They're given over to the worship of Beelzebub—half these church-going folks!

    The Christian

    Hall Caine

  • You know, Beelzebub is positively the worst mare in the Valley.

  • You are a fair and shining vessel (of a kind), but Beelzebub's at your heart.

    John Splendid

    Neil Munro

  • Grandfather of Beelzebub, is this a place to lie worshiping your fiends?

  • Blythe had been re-christened "Beelzebub" as an acknowledgment of the greatness of his fall.

British Dictionary definitions for beelzebub

Beelzebub

noun
  1. Old Testament a god of the Philistines (2 Kings 1:2)
  2. Satan or any devil or demon
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Word Origin

Old English Belzebub, ultimately from Hebrew bá`al zebūb, literally: lord of flies
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for beelzebub

Beelzebub

Old English Belzebub, Philistine god worshipped at Ekron (2 Kings i:2), from Latin, used in Vulgate for New Testament Greek beelzeboub, from Hebrew ba'al-z'bub "lord of the flies," from ba'al "lord" + z'bhubh "fly." By later Christian writers often taken as another name for "Satan," though Milton made him one of the fallen angels.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
beelzebub in Culture

Beelzebub

[(bee-el-zuh-bub)]

Another name for Satan. Originally a Philistine god, he is called the Prince of Devils in the New Testament.

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Note

Beelzebub also appears in Milton's Paradise Lost as one of the fallen angels, second only to Satan in power.

Note

By extension, a “Beelzebub” is any demon or evil spirit.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.