- Beelzebub
- O.E. Belzebub, Philistine god worshipped at Ekron (2 Kings i.2), from L., used in Vulgate for N.T. Gk. beelzeboub, from Heb. 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.
- Baal
- "The name of many deities of the Semitic peoples" [Klein], late 14c., Biblical use is from Heb. Ba'al, lit. "owner, master, lord," from ba'al "he took possession of," also "he married;" related to Akkad. Belu (source of Heb. Bel), name of Marduk. Also related to the first element in Beelzebub. Used figuratively for any "false god."
- lord
- M.E. laverd, loverd (13c.), from O.E. hlaford "master of a household, ruler, superior," also "God" (translating L. Dominus, though O.E. drihten was used more often), earlier hlafweard, lit. "one who guards the loaves," from hlaf "bread, loaf" + weard "keeper, guardian, ward." Cf. lady, and O.E. hlafæta "household servant," lit. "loaf-eater." Modern monosyllabic form emerged 14c. The verb meaning "to play the lord, domineer" is from late 14c.; to lord it is from 1570s. Interjection Lordy first attested 1853, Amer.Eng. Lord of the Flies translates Beelzebub (q.v.) and was name of 1954 book by William Golding.