Moloch

Meaning

Proper Noun

• An ancient Ammonite deity worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant.
• A person or thing demanding or requiring a very costly sacrifice.

Origin

• From the Proto-Semitic *malk- ("king"). The figurative sense derives from the Old Testament, in which it is alleged that the cult of Moloch involved the sacrifice of human children.