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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. In Jewish folklore, an artificially created human supernaturally endowed with life.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. In Jewish use, a shapeless mass; an unfinished vessel or a lifeless bulk; in modern Jewish parlance, a blockhead; a stupid. The Talmud, as well as modern Jewish folk-lore, tells of rabbis who constructed golems and endowed them with life.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A Creature made of mud and clay. Brought to life from a magical spell on a piece of paper shoved in its mouth.
  2. adj. giant, mammoth, very big (of a size of sth)

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a mechanism that can move automatically
  2. n. (Jewish folklore) an artificially created human being that is given life by supernatural means

Etymologies

  1. Hebrew gōlem, lump, clod, fool, from gālam, to wrap up; see glm in Semitic roots.

Examples

  • “The impression you get from a golem is more of brute force and slavery which I doubt is what you are going for with your character.”

    Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Open Writing Forum

  • “Knowing this, what do you think the significance of the golem is in this novel.”

    The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: Questions

  • “And I think a golem is a pretty accurate metaphor.”

    nessus Diary Entry

  • “If you played D&D or are Jewish, you know that a golem is a living creature animated out of inanimate material, in this case clay.”

    Archive 2005-12-01

  • “He tried to quell his human softness, knowing the golem was a literally heartless, unliving thing, but he could not.”

    Split Infinity

  • “There is a creature found in traditional Jewish folklore called the golem, an animate humanlike being fashioned completely from inanimate material.”

    Queen's Journal: Latest stories

  • “Both versions recall the golem running amok and threatening innocent lives, so Rabbi Loew removed the Divine Name, rendering the golem lifeless.”

    Jihad Monitor

  • “I did want to take a moment to point out how the reviewer takes umbrage with my usage of the word "golem" instead of "zombie".”

    An interesting bad review...

  • “A golem is a mindless creature created as a servant from lifeless materials, such as stone, wood, or ...”

    Child Of The Hunt

  • “He said there was a reference to the notion of "golem" in Loew's work, but it had another meaning, namely an unwise man.”

    Vos Iz Neias - (Yiddish:What's News?)

Show 10 more examples...

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘golem’.

Comments

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  • delcj גול�? Sep 21, 2007

‘golem’ has been looked up 1577 times, loved by 2 people, added to 40 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 8.