leviathan
noun
Often Leviathan a sea monster.
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leviathan
American
[li-vahy-uh-thuhn]
/ lɪˈvaɪ ə θən /
noun
-
Bible. Often Leviathan a sea monster.
-
any huge marine animal, as the whale.
-
anything of immense size and power, as a huge, oceangoing ship.
-
Leviathan, a philosophical work (1651) by Thomas Hobbes dealing with the political organization of society.
leviathan
British
/ lɪˈvaɪəθən /
noun
-
Bible a monstrous beast, esp a sea monster
-
any huge or powerful thing
Leviathan
Cultural
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.
Vocabulary lists containing leviathan
Lord of the Flies
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Rap Lyrics
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Refugee
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Stanley Reed, who covers energy from London, traveled to Israel and, with the photographer Ofir Berman, to the Leviathan platform to report this article.
From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2023
Like in Supernatural, when those Leviathan things were in Castiel’s tummy and you could see them stretching the skin and stuff.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
