# leviathan

> English word · Noun · IPA /lɪˈvaɪəθn̩/ · frequency rank #25,820

## Definitions
1. A vast sea monster of tremendous strength, either imaginary or real, described as the most dangerous and powerful creature in the ocean.
2. A thing which is monstrously great in size, strength, etc. (especially a ship); also, a person with great power or wealth.
3. Sometimes in the form Leviathan: based on the writings of Thomas Hobbes, the political state, especially a domineering and totalitarian one.
4. Synonym of Satan (“the supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic religions, who tempts humanity into sin; the Devil”).

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English leviathan, levyathan, levyethan, from Late Latin leviathan, a transliteration of Biblical Hebrew לִוְיָתָן (liwyāṯān), possibly from לִוְיָה (liwyâ, “garland, wreath”) + ־תָּן (-tān, suffix forming agent nouns), literally “the tortuous one”.
Noun sense 2.2 (“political state”) was coined by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) in his work Leviathan (1651): see the quotation. Noun sense 2.3 (“synonym of Satan”) refers to Isaiah 27:1 in the Bible (King James Version, spelling modernized): “In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.”
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.

## Common misspellings (13)
`elviathan`, `leivathan`, `levaithan`, `leviahtan`, `leviatahn`, `leviathann`, `leviathhan`, `leviathna`, `leviatthan`, `levitahan`, `levviathan`, `lleviathan`, `lveiathan`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/leviathan