Definition of leviathan
1a often capitalized : a sea monster defeated by Yahweh in various scriptural accountsb : a large sea animal this leviathan of animals is the great Blue Whale — Weston 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
adjectiveFrom the M-W Editors
leviathan was our Word of the Day on 12/04/2009. Hear the podcast!
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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 of leviathan from the Web
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In a study published Tuesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team of researchers investigated gigantism in baleen whales, the filter-feeding leviathans that include blue whales, bowhead whales and fin whales.
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After Thursday’s Child was sideswiped by the leviathan, Reppy noticed that navigation became increasingly difficult.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leviathan'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Old Testament references to a huge sea monster, Leviathan (in Hebrew, Liwyāthān), are thought to spring 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 the Hebrews in the wilderness, and it is referred to in the book of Job as well. We began equating Leviathan with the political state after the philosopher Thomas Hobbes used the word in (and as the title of) his 1651 political treatise on government. Today, Leviathan often suggests a crushing political bureaucracy. Leviathan can also be immensely useful as a general term meaning "something monstrous or of enormous size."
Origin and Etymology of leviathan
Middle English, from Late Latin, from Hebrew liwyāthān
First Known Use: 14th century
LEVIATHAN Defined for English Language Learners
leviathan
playDefinition of leviathan for English Language Learners
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: something that is very large and powerful
Learn More about leviathan
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for leviathan Spanish Central: Translation of leviathan Nglish: Translation of leviathan for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about leviathan
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