Ahab

English

Alternative forms

• Achab (perhaps dated)

Etymology

From Middle English Achab, from Latin Achab, from Ancient Greek Ἀχαάβ (Akhaáb), from Hebrew אַחְאָב (ʼAḥʼāḇ, “uncle”); from אַח (ʼaḥ, “brother”) + אָב (ʼāḇ, “father”). Attested in Akkadian as 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 (Aḫabbu).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪˌhæb/

Proper noun

Ahab

1. A king of Israel, mentioned in the Bible.
2. A male given name from Hebrew, very rarely used.

Quotations

• 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

  Oh! he ain’t Captain Bildad; no, and he ain’t Captain Peleg; he’s Ahab, boy; and Ahab of old, thou knowest, was a crowned king!"
  "And a very vile one. When that wicked king was slain, the dogs, did they not lick his blood?"
  "Come hither to me—hither, hither," said Peleg, with a significance in his eye that almost startled me. "Look ye, lad; never say that on board the Pequod. Never say it anywhere. Captain Ahab did not name himself .'Twas a foolish, ignorant whim of his crazy, widowed mother, who died when he was only a twelvemonth old. And yet the old squaw Tistig, at Gayhead, said that the name would somehow prove prophetic.

Translations

biblical king of Israel

• Akkadian: 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 (Aḫâbbu)
• Arabic: آخَاب m (ʔāḵāb)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亞哈／亚哈 (Yàhā)

• Dutch: Achab
• Esperanto: Aĥabo
• French: Achab
• German: Ahab
• Greek:

  Ancient: Ἀχαάβ m (Akhaáb)

• Hebrew: אַחְאָב (Ach'av)
• Irish: Acháb m
• Latin: Achābus m
• Maore Comorian: Ahaɓu
• Middle English: Achab
• Portuguese: Acabe m, Acab m
• Russian: Аха́в (ru) (Axáv)
• Swedish: Ahab

Anagrams

• AABH, Abha, Baha, Baha', Bahá'