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• leviathan
  leviathan

  noun

  Often Leviathan a sea monster.
• Leviathan
  Leviathan

  A sea monster mentioned in the Book of Job, where it is associated with the forces of chaos and evil.

leviathan

American  

[li-vahy-uh-thuhn] / lɪˈvaɪ ə θən /

noun

1. Bible. Often Leviathan a sea monster.

2. any huge marine animal, as the whale.

3. anything of immense size and power, as a huge, oceangoing ship.

4. Leviathan, a philosophical work (1651) by Thomas Hobbes dealing with the political organization of society.

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leviathan British  

/ lɪˈvaɪəθən /

noun

1. Bible a monstrous beast, esp a sea monster

2. any huge or powerful thing

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Leviathan Cultural  

1. A sea monster mentioned in the Book of Job, where it is associated with the forces of chaos and evil.

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Discover More

Figuratively, a “leviathan” is any enormous beast.

Leviathan is a work on politics by the seventeenth-century English author Thomas Hobbes.

Etymology

Origin of leviathan

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English levyathan, from Late Latin leviathan, ultimately from Hebrew liwyāthān

Explanation

A leviathan is a giant sea creature. It can be real, like a whale, or mythical. Moby Dick is an example of a famous leviathan. The word comes from Hebrew livyathan which means a great sea serpent or sea monster. A real leviathan is the giant sea squid Architeuthis, which was photographed alive for the first time in 2005. A leviathan can also be something that is really, really big. The Titanic was a leviathan that now rests with leviathans.

Example Sentences

Israel has halted production at its Karish and Leviathan fields, which will affect exports to Egypt and Jordan.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

This includes building a third pipeline from the Leviathan reservoir to the production platform, as well as increasing the transmission pipeline capacity between Israel and Egypt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

Their hardcore sound combined prog-rock, alternative and grunge - on albums such as Remission, Leviathan and Emperor of Sand - drawing in legions of metal fans and ultimately critical acclaim.

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2025

Like Timothée Chalamet’s dashingly coifed hero — who steers monstrous sandworms over the desert like a charioteer — Villeneuve has tamed a Leviathan.

From New York Times • Feb. 29, 2024

A striking example of this is to be found in Shapin and Schaffer’s Leviathan and the Air-pump.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• colossal
• enormous
• extensive
• gargantuan
• giant
• gigantic
• great
• humongous
• immense
• magnificent
• mammoth
• massive
• monstrous
• monumental
• towering
• tremendous
• vast