leviathan

noun

le·​vi·​a·​than li-ˈvī-ə-thən How to pronounce leviathan (audio)
1
a
often capitalized : a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accounts
b
: a large sea animal
this leviathan of animals is the great Blue WhaleWeston LaBarre
2
capitalized : the political state
especially : a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy
3
: something large or formidable
that leviathan of international corporations
leviathan adjective

Did you know?

Old Testament references to a huge sea monster, Leviathan (in Hebrew, Liwyāthān), are thought to come from an ancient myth in which the god Baal slays a multiheaded sea monster. Leviathan appears in the Book of Psalms, as a sea serpent that is killed by God and then given as food to creatures in the wilderness, and it is mentioned in the Book of Job as well. Today, its name is used for "something monstrous or of enormous size."

Examples of leviathan in a Sentence

The factory is a towering leviathan in the middle of the town. a leviathan of the seas, that cruise ship is said to be the largest passenger vessel afloat
Recent Examples on the Web In 2016, tech leviathan Oracle bought the hotel property for $132 million. George Avalos, The Mercury News, 28 Feb. 2024 In Israel, the hero figure evolved into Yahweh — the Hebrew name for god — fighting a leviathan, Uehlinger said. Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 22 Feb. 2024 The hypothetical clash between these ancient leviathans remains a subject of fascination, with the megalodon's raw power potentially overwhelming Livyatan's mammalian intelligence. Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024 The Biggest Spiders in the World Despite their size, these long-legged leviathans do whatever spiders can, prowling the forests, deserts, caves, marshes, grasslands — and yes, sometimes human dwellings — on almost every continent in the world. Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 24 Oct. 2023 These commercial leviathans have duked it out for the past couple of decades, with Amazon gaining the edge with its aggressive online offerings. WIRED, 24 June 2023 The leviathan is dead; sharks circle and feast on its tail and fins. Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2023 To the post-liberals, both the Republicans and the Democrats are in league with the enemy: the liberal leviathan. Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 28 July 2023 The diplomat George Kennan and other Cold War realists put in star turns at the helm of the new American leviathan, but the connections between their thought and, say, John Cage’s classical compositions can be hard to trace. Beverly Gage, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'leviathan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Late Latin, from Hebrew liwyāthān

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of leviathan was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Leviathan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leviathan. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

leviathan

noun
le·​vi·​a·​than li-ˈvī-ə-thən How to pronounce leviathan (audio)
1
often capitalized : a sea monster often standing for evil in the Old Testament and Christian literature
2
: something very large or powerful of its kind

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