leviathan English · revision 1495

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1382}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ləˈvaɪəθ(ə)n/; /lɪˈvaɪəθn̩/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|leviathan]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la-lat|leviathan]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from [[he|לִוְיָתָן|tr=liwyāṯān|t=dragon, serpent, huge sea animal]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) of unknown origin.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) It is perhaps from the root [[m|he|לוה|tr=l-w-h|t=to wind, twist]], describing a coiled serpent,^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Skeat 1911)^(Weekley 1921) related to Hebrew [[m|he|לִוְיָה|tr=liwyāh|t=wreath]] and [[ar|لَوَى|tr=lawā|t=to bend, twist]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Skeat 1911) The AHD compares the Canaanite serpent Lotan.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An aquatic animal of enormous size mentioned in Hebrew poetry, and Satan as the great enemy of God (1382 in the OED; before 1382 in Barnhart).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Bible Leviathan is sometimes taken for a whale, sometimes a crocodile and sometimes the Devil.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Partridge 1966) The sense of a man of vast power or wealth dates from 1607,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and the word was used attributively for “huge, monstrous” from 1624.^(OED 1989) In 1651 Thomas Hobbes used ''Leviathan'' as the title of his treatise on sovereign power, for the commonwealth or state,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986) and later uses for an autocratic or totalitarian state derive from it.^(Cresswell 2021)^(MW Collegiate) From about 1801 it also meant a ship of huge size.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – the biblical sea monster, and Satan.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1607 – a man of vast power.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1624 – attributive, huge.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1651 – Hobbes's ''Leviathan'', the state.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)

+ * c. 1801 – a huge ship.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A monstrous sea creature mentioned in the [[Old Testament]], often capitalized.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A very large animal, especially a [[whale]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # Something unusually large or powerful of its kind, especially a ship.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(political philosophy)'' The state, especially a [[totalitarian]] one with a vast bureaucracy; usually capitalized.^(MW Collegiate)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of enormous size; monstrous.^(MWU 2024)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[behemoth]]

+ * [[colossus]]

+ * [[titan]]

+ * [[whale]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}